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Fleur Delacour had never been one to consider herself below others. She was Veela and proud of it. With moon-bright skin, white-gold hair, and with allure and magicks blessed to her by her bloodline, a woman of her stature had no reason to be uncertain of herself no matter what ridiculous wizardry and prejudice would have her feel.
So the fact that she was standing on the edge of the water with her little sister having been kidnapped in the middle of the night and sunk to the bottom of the lake, unable to do anything because of such wizarding prejudice, was so infuriating that she had tears of frustration running down her face as she screamed at the officials. She had never been in such hysterics before, but she had also never been quite sure that because of who she was—who her family was—that someone she loved might die.
She could feel her face threatening to sharpen, scaly wings writhing underneath her shoulder blades, and heat gathering in her palms, but felt the cooling sensation pulsate from her wand, rippling through her body. Ignorant Ollivander said that he found Veela hair to be too temperamental for people to use when evaluating her wand, but that's because he was not educated on it; Veela hair passed down to wizard descendents served to help them regulate their hot-headedness and temper their urge to transform.
They had kidnapped her sister, her Veela sister with only her, a Veela competitor being the only one allowed to rescue her. And had her guarded by Merfolk of all wretched things. How utterly disgustingly ignorant could British wizards be!
“How dare you do zis!” Fleur shouted angrily, hysterical tears running rampantly down her cheeks. She did not care for the hundreds of thousands that were watching this event. She did not care for the idiotic faces of the Minister or the Headmaster of this bumbling school. She did. Not. Care.
Her parents were rushing down immediately to try to be by her side, demanding to be let past the barrier that separated the audience.
“Maman! Papa!” Fleur cried, panicked, “Gabrielle is at the bottom of the lake guarded by Mer. They let them kidnap her!”
“Dumbledore, what is zis?! You 'ad my youngest kidnapped en ze middle of ze night and gave her to Merfolk?! Zis ez an international incident! Retrieve ‘er at once!!” her Papa immediately demanded, looking up to where Dumbledore and the other headmaster, headmistress, and Minister were seated for the event, outraged with his hand on his wand, his accent much stronger in his rage.
Unlike Fleur, her mother was half-Veela and did not care for shifting propriety; she immediately shifted into her creature form, her face elongating from enchanting beauty into a beaked terror as fireballs formed in clutched talons. “How dare you give my baby to those genocidal monsters?” she growled.
Fleur immediately felt comforted at the sight.
“Now, now, Monsieur Delacour, it’s not a big issue,” Fudge attempted to placate them, “Ms. Delacour simply has to enter the water and retrieve her hostage is all.”
“All will be well once she swims through the obstacles and gets her,” Dumbledore agreed, smiling genially. “If she doesn’t, Gabrielle will simply be released at the end of the challenge.”
“ All will not be well ,” Apolline roared, “We Veela 'ave been at war wiv the Mer for centuries! Zey 'ave committed genocide against us and 'ave taken liking to torturing and killing our children. Only in the past decade 'ave we 'ad a treaty, but only if we don't enter each other's territory. A treaty that 'ou are suggesting that mon daughter breaks by participating and going to get mon baby zat you 'anded to zem on a silver platter! Zey will torture 'er to death just for being ‘eld 'ostage! Get my fledgling out of there zere right now ! ”
Several fireballs were launched at the barrier, causing it to shudder, but it remained intact.
Still, despite the sudden pale complexion of Minister Fudge and Dumbledore—both clearly somehow unaware of the magical creature war —neither motioned to let either of her parents in or to summon Gabrielle from the lake.
It was then that Fleur could see that their ignorance was going to get Gabrielle killed.
A rippling in the water that had the crowd start to murmur amongst themselves nearly went unnoticed by Fleur, too focused on the anger boiling inside her and the stream of curses her parents were spitting out. Only when the murmuring became a roar did she look over and see that one of her competitors had succeeded and was dragging himself onto shore. And with him was not one body, but two.
A few seconds later, Krum surfaced after him, his face twisted in anger, but Fleur was already racing over to Harry Potter and the two blonde girls he was rolling into their backs—one significantly smaller than the other.
“Gabrielle!” Sliding onto her knees, Fleur reached out and gently patted her sister's wet cheeks, silently begging her to open her eyes. Her small form was bloodied with several cuts and she could make out the beginnings of the sadistic torture marks she had seen only in pictures on her sisters body, tears immediately pouring from her eyes. “ Gabrielle!” she pleaded desperately, fearing the worst, wings rippling beneath her skin again and palms simmering, wand humming.
Before long, Gabrielle began to cough, and Fleur quickly slipped an arm under her to support her as she raised her up. Water spilled from her lips and her eyelids fluttered open, confusion evident on her face as she looked around.
Fleur cradled Gabrielle to her, whispering comforting words. She noticed her eyes slowly sliding shut again, but color had returned to her cheeks and her chest was rising and falling with a steadier breath, so Fleur felt more comfortable with her falling back into unconsciousness for now, possibly due to the pain caused by the Mer’s torment. Hopefully she could be taken to the infirmary and treated before she had to face what had happened to her.
Around her, Fleur noticed Krum was nearby waking up the Granger girl, while Harry next to her was talking with that Lovegood girl he had to save. Her eyes fell on wounds that were bright and still bleeding on his wet skin, the marks similar to the ones on her sister. Why would he…?
“H-Harry…” she called out cautiously, a million questions on the tip of her tongue.
A sudden scream erupted from the crowd, followed by several others, and Fleur’s gaze quickly shot to the lake. On the surface, various body parts and decapitated bodies were starting to float to the surface. The grey skin made them recognizable as the bodies of Merpeople, even if some were missing their stringy hair and yellow eyes.
Confusion began to swirl through Fleur, but it was quickly replaced with indignant fear as a live Mer suddenly surfaced, mouth open in a savage snarl showing their razor sharp teeth as they lunged toward the shore, clawed hands reaching for Fleur and Gabrielle. “Veela young!” they snarled, though she knew to others it simply sounded like the high keening of claws on a chalkboard.
Fleur’s body felt frozen as she tightened her grip on Gabrielle. Every instinct told her to get up and fight and defend herself and her sister, but she knew she could not, should not break the treaty with such rash actions. Either they survive and forsake all Veela to war, or she forfeit their lives to save everyone for peace. Heart thundering in her throat, she steeled her muscles and forced herself to not look away, to meet her death with the pride and dignity of true Veela.
Maman. Papa. Gabrielle.
Powerful magic began to seep in the air like a heatwave, causing goosebumps to form and liquid heat to pool in her stomach, as a determined form stepped in between them.
“ Murderer! ” the Mer screeched, averting their attention to who Fleur quickly realized was Harry Potter, standing firm with a serious expression on his face. His hair, which was usually wild, had been somewhat tamed by the water into tousled curls that brushed against his aristocratic face which was tempered by youth. His normally flat green eyes were alight with power and razor sharp focus.
Though his hands were empty, he still stepped forward and Fleur shivered as an unseen energy exhaled away from him and toward the Mer, radiating a power that only the strongest of wizards or witches could wield.
When the Mer froze as if hit by a paralyzing force, Fleur realized that Harry was using wandless magic through sheer will, that he was doing so to defend her and her sister as he must have done in the water to save her in the first place. The Mer let out a steady hiss, seemingly the only thing they could still do before their head was ripped from their body in a gruesome display.
The crowd crying out felt galaxies away as Fleur shakily got to her feet, pulling Gabrielle up into her arms. She didn't want to let her go ever again.
Harry was still watching the lake, lips pressed together firmly, as she slowly approached him. From the other side, Krum hurried over and dropped a hand down onto his shoulder, breaking Harry's attention.
“Are you alright?” Harry asked, eyes on her. There was something about being under the full force of that Avada green gaze that made her feel weak. “Sorry that I couldn’t get to her sooner before they went mad. Did something happen? You didn’t come down for her.”
The sound of his voice, a beautiful roughness that did nothing to dispel the thrum of her heart and the liquid heat that had been pulsing inside of her ever since his magic had blanketed the area.
Claim him, her instincts were pushing at her, attempting to pull her toward the man. Her wings were itching beneath her skin and her allure, without her consent, seemed to be tunnel visioning on him, though he seemed unbothered by it, almost unaffected if anything. Just like her Maman had told her it had been like with her Papa.
Mate.
He just seemed concerned for her.
“Ze Mer have committed genocide against us Veela, torture our children. Zey still put my sister down zere. I could not save her or it would start a war,” Fleur spoke shakily, shivering still from the adrenaline but also because Harry’s magic was still heavy in the air. He had not reigned it in—maybe he did not know how to do so?
It was intoxicating. She could barely focus.
Mate. Claim. Powerful. Ours.
Krum instantly was in an uproar, grip tightening on Harry's shoulder based on the slight wince that crossed his face. Veela were considered divine creatures in Bulgaria, of high status. In France, Veela were actually still fighting for rights to some extent, but where her competitor was from she knew they were revered.
“How dare! They put child! I thought they excuse you from challenge when I saw Mer! ”
Before she could respond, several men came into Fleur’s periphery, charging forward with wands drawn. She glanced around, taking in the fact that the ward had been broken and that Dumbledore and Fudge were now approaching after bringing the ward back up, serious expressions darkening their faces. She pulled Gabrielle closer to her chest.
The men stopped with a good few meters between them, wands directed toward Harry, leaving a gap. Dumbledore charged straight through, gripping Harry's arms tightly to the point that even Fleur could tell it would bruise.
“What have you done? Why didn’t you just stun them, Harry?” he asked, voice gentle as usual but with an undertone of incredulous disbelief, “or use Incarcerous ?”
“We learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts that you can’t stun Merfolk,” Hermione spoke up, stepping up to stand with them when Harry didn’t say anything in his defense, her brow wrinkled. “Shouldn’t you know that, Headmaster? Also Incarcerous doesn’t work with Merpeople because it isn’t strong enough to hold them. I’m not saying that killing them was the only way to handle the situation but given the situation and the constraints…” Hermione’s lips wobbled and Fleur could tell it was a difficult thing for her to say but she had made peace with it already, “it was an understandable choice.”
Fleur wanted to kiss her.
Or Harry. Definitely Harry.
She was still busy shivering from his magical display.
“No, it is not!” Dumbledore exclaimed, voice rising in volume. He was shaking with anger, bringing his face closer to Harry's. “Do you know what you've done, boy? I can't protect you from this!”
“Stand down, Dumbledore!” Fudge called out, crossing his arms behind his back as he slowly approached.
With a shake of his head, Dumbledore let go and stepped back, allowing room for Fudge to circle Harry.
Harry watched him silently, as did Fleur and the rest of those around.
“You killed that Merperson,” Fudge announced as if he was reading his grocery list. “You are responsible for the bodies of those in the lake.”
“Yes, sir,” Harry agreed, voice unwavering. “They were attacking that little girl unprovoked, torturing her really…she was going to die…and when I went to save her, they started attacking me. I had to defend us and Luna.”
“He admitted it! Proof he’s going Dark!” Fudge fumbled, clutching a hand to his chest. “Aurors! Arrest him for murder! He’s a mass murderer! There’s like twenty bodies in that lake!”
“Arrest him?” Fleur cried out, palms hot once more while Krum bellowed, “Murder?!”
The aurors next to the minister didn’t come forth, giving forth hope. Instead, they shuffled uncertainly.
“And he murdered that Mer without his wand. Whose to say he didn’t murder them all wandlessly? He’s too dangerous to be kept out of Azkaban!” the Minister for Magic continued, uncaring of the outrage of the contestants.
“Oh, and now suddenly you care about magical creature rights? ‘Merperson?’ I doubt you’ve said that word a day in your life before that sentence,” Hermione scoffed as she finally finished wringing out her drenched afro, her hands going to her cocked out hip now that she was fully recovered from the sleeping spell. “Among all the letters I’ve sent to your office lobbying for magical creatures, this is the hill you suddenly want to choose to die on—Mer rights? Eat-your-children-Mers? Why y’all got this lake and put students in it anyways, by the way? Furthermore, why did you blatantly disregard a standing treaty between an oppressive nation and an endangered one? Please explain, Minister, because I’m sure we are all dying to hear your riveting response. No, seriously, continue . Without the fumbling this time. It’s just the truth, not soccer, it really shouldn’t be this hard.”
The enraptured look that Krum gave Hermione during her dressing down was one for the books. Fleur could see why she was Harry Potter’s best friend, the two as thick as thieves. She made a note to get to know the witch better, for one could never have too many powerful and intelligent women at their side. What a beautiful picture they would make.
“Bulgaria stand with Harry Potter,” Krum sneered in broken English, coming to stand by Hermione, their shoulders brushing. “Veela are sacred. Children moreso. Potter made right choice.”
Fudge sneered. “Aurors!” he called out again, pointedly ignoring them. “I said arrest him!”
This time, the aurors started surging forward.
Luna suddenly appeared as well, dancing across them, pirouetting beautifully, deflecting the stunners with a flick of her wand as she hummed an off-beat tune uncaringly, her long, blonde hair billowing as she kicked her leg out with pizzazz and dodged all the way backwards. Krum was on the move as well, though he was also on the offense, throwing his own, growled “Stupefy!” towards those that dared approach. Together, they were an impenetrable front—no one was able to touch Harry.
Hermione was clearly not as much of a fighter, staying out of the way, slight fear in her eyes at the brawl taking place between students and adults.
“Please,” Fleur mouthed to her and quickly she passed her still sleeping sister into her arms, trusting the intelligent woman to keep her safe, especially since she didn’t seem one for the frontlines.
Hermione nodded silently and retreated, allowing Fleur to draw her wand out and start to head into the battle as well. If she could defend the one who had so selflessly defended her sister, unknowing of the political background of it all, she would.
“No,” Harry breathed, though she could see the way that his eyes were enraptured with the beautiful sight Luna made even if he was pained at the way they all rose to his defense, “Don’t get involved! It’s fine.” The magic he had been unable to reel in previously started riling up again, simmering in the air, and Fleur couldn’t handle it anymore, unable to contain herself.
While he was distracted, she wrapped her arms around his front, causing him to freeze. “Harry Potter,” she murmured as she placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck, her arousal having reached its height as her instincts were driving her forwards to yes, yes, yes finally sink her elongated teeth into his neck, finally claiming him as hers.
“Fleur! Making a mating bond in public?! My Gods! Don’t you dare consummate it, too! I raised you better than this, young lady!” Fleur heard her maman shout with the utmost scandalized tone, but she could not care less, too lost into purring with satisfaction into her mate’s neck as he groaned his appreciation.
Almost immediately, her magic and Harry’s rose into the air with a visible flash, her wings finally freeing themselves from her skin to stretch behind them in display. The beauty of her face remained, contrastingly, the scaly wings roused by the bond and also as a warning.
“As my mate, Harry doesn’t have to answer to ze British government for defending a Veela fledgling. You have to contend with our diplomatic representative in France,” Fleur smiled bloodily as she announced loudly, pressing into her allure and giving her wings a few flaps just to further emphasize that she was not regular wizarding folk to be trifled with . Her hands continued to explore the toned chest of her mate, feeling the way that his heart was thrumming like a humming bird beneath her touch.
Luna’s eyes connected with hers, suddenly more alert than she had ever seen the girl, and Fleur’s gums throbbed again. For some reason, she almost felt like she was in…danger?
Bite.
“Oh, guess that happens to be me,” her Papa then smiled cordially, though the smile was slightly too razor sharp to be kind, perfect English accent back in place as the barrier “protecting the audience” finally came down again and let him through. “I’m a little booked on meetings, though, please do forgive me. I can give you my card,” he said, sounding very bored as he pulled a black business card from his breast pocket. “I doubt you want another international incident on your hands today, Minister Fudge, so I highly suggest you let this go. I will be reporting today’s events to my Minister, by the way. I’m sure the Bulgarian diplomat will be as well.”
Fudge seemed stunned into silence, though he stiffly reached out to take the business card. His narrowed eyes skimmed over the students around him, landing and staying on Harry for too long to be comfortable, before he huffed and began to walk away, gesturing for the Aurors to follow him.
Krum let out a loud, relieved sigh once they had all left, pulling Harry and Fleur into his sides and squishing them into a hard hug. “Well done. Congrats on bond. You have beauty children.”
Fleur couldn't help the smile pulling at her lips, while Harry laughed nervously.
“Er, thanks, mate,” he chuckled, wiggling out from under his arm.
Krum smiled brightly at them before moving away and toward Hermione, who was now handing the sleeping Gabrielle back to their Papa. She immediately felt relief at seeing her little sister safe where she belonged, finally out of danger’s way. It almost brought tears to her eyes.
“I’m sorry that you have to be stuck with me now, Fleur,” Harry said, stepping closer and bringing her attention back to him. Up close without the pull so loud, he was still arrestingly attractive and she wanted to whisk him away where she could get to know him more thoroughly.
“Oh?” Fleur raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
“You misunderstand me, Harry Potter,” she purred. “I feel the magic around you like a storm in ze air. It tells of ze man you will become. I could not want for a more powerful mate. ”
She knew that she was a wonderful catch for a mate: beautiful, powerful, intelligent. But for a moment she paused, taking a step back. “Harry Potter, I am…sorry,” she began, the words feeling awkward in her mouth. She was a very proud woman, raised to be unashamed no matter how many people tried to make her so. “I did not ask if you wanted to be my mate. I just took what I wanted.”
For a brief second, anxiety flitted through her like a moth given free reign to eat her once pristine insides.
“You did it to protect me, right?” he asked, searching her gaze for honesty.
Fleur hesitantly nodded. “It was not right, what zey were going to do to you. Zat and…” pink dusted her nose, “I felt ze pull and with all the emotions, I almost could not help myself. My instincts were very strong,” she admitted.
“Do you feel the pull with just anyone?” he questioned, fingers threading through his midnight locks, cowlicks suddenly appearing as they dried. She stifled the urge to work her fingers through it.
“No,” she admitted. “We may only feel it a few times in our life.”
In the back of her mind, she thought of the blonde haired woman he had saved who pirouetted boldly in front of stunners from fully grown aurors to save him. She thought about the aching in her gums and the pull to her as well. She thought about how lucky she was.
She thought about how things would be if she would not broach it. Most Veela were monogamous. They mated for life, after all.
But…she was Fleur Delacour. And, if she could, she would have it all .
“I did…I did feel the pull too towards ze Lovegood girl from ze lake,” she finally admitted, hoping he was as open-minded about these things as the French were.
“Oh thank Merlin,” Luna sighed dreamily as she appeared from almost nowhere, pressing a kiss to Harry’s lips briefly before addressing Fleur, “I thought I was getting left behind for a moment.” She swept her hair to the side, revealing a dangling radish earring and a pale neck. “Can you bite here? I’d like it to be opposite Harry’s.”
Fleur was stunned into silence.
“We, er, we’ve been dating. No one knew,” Harry revealed, a genuine smile on his face, “I’m really relieved that you felt the mating pull towards Luna as well.”
He looked down at the petite blonde, something soft and deep in his gaze that Fleur craved would be directed towards her with time. “I knew that there was something unexplainable about you,” he murmured to her, pressing a kiss to her hand.
Fleur cleared her throat, “I am honored to join you,” she found herself saying softly, something in her heart growing full when they both turned those radiant smiles towards her.
“Ma chère,” she whispered as she leaned towards the beautiful girl, pressing a slow kiss to her neck, enjoying the way she shivered with anticipation. She could smell the wildflowers lotion she used and a hint of what smelled like the mint aftershave she could pick up on Harry. The idea that they had been so intimately close that she could smell them on each other only riled her up further.
Eyes flicking up briefly, she could see the way that Harry was watching them, his eyes almost black with arousal, lips parted slightly.
Claim her, a whisper.
Then she sunk her teeth into flesh, moaning at the taste of her new mate mingling with her first still circling in her mouth. She could feel Harry’s hands on her, on her face then her hair, almost like her body was a livewire.
When she pulled back she barely had a second before Luna had darted forward, claiming her lips in an almost bruising kiss, pulling a moan straight from Fleur’s lips as her tongue tasted her and Harry’s blood. Their soft bodies slotted together beautifully and Fleur found that her wings curled in to hide them from view, yet included Harry in the mix so that his body was pressed there, too.
Heart thundering in her ears, she pulled Harry into a kiss next, seeing the desire in his eyes watching them, and tangled their tongues together as she felt the power of their shared bond growing.
When he pulled away to kiss Luna the same way, she could only watch hungrily, pleased with her choices in mates.
“Fleur Delacour, you better not be consummating just because you chose public to bite your mates! I don’t care what your instincts say!”
“Maman!” she flushed angrily, the words also coming out in a barely human snarl at being disturbed.
Luna caressed her cheek, drawing her attention away from her mother and back to her mates, soothing her and bringing her face back to hers and Harry's.
Cedric popped out of the water then, Cho asleep in his arms. His eyes bugged out of his head as he took in what was in front of him. “Harry?! You’re kissing Fleur? And Loony? What the bloody hell is going on?”
What was left of a floating Mer corpse bumped into him in the water and he flailed back, letting go of Cho completely, who began to sink back underwater, where she got snagged by one of the last surviving Mer.
“Oh Merlin, an arm!”