Fleur’s Surprise

Disclaimer: As usual – I claim no ownership of the Harry Potter world and its characters. I’m only here to play with it for my fun and yours. The rights are still belonging to J.K. Rowling and her business associates. I only own the few original characters added by me and the plot. ============================================================================= It was Saturday, a few days after the announcement of the Triwizard champions. Harry was sitting with Hermione at the Gryffindor table while all other students were keeping their distance. All except Neville, who sat opposite Hermione. Harry's back was turned towards the other house tables in order not to see who was trying to mock him or bad mouth him. He was also not aware of the person approaching him. Only Neville's surprised look made him aware of something unusual. "Monsieur Potter, may I have a word with you?" – it was Fleur Delacour, the French champion, who approached him. Harry shrugged and waved his hand as a sign for her to continue. "Privately, please," she added. Neville was already drooling, his mouth agape and his eyes stuck on Fleur. Other boys, sitting a bit further, were not in any better condition. Ron even stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth. Only Harry looked normal, that is – pissed off and moody. "Alright, then," he said, standing up from the table, his food barely touched, taking Hermione's hand in his. She seemed a bit annoyed but followed him still. The three left the Great Hall and Harry moved to a nearby classroom which was seldom used. As soon as they were all in, Hermione cast some locking charms and privacy charms on the door, the windows and the walls. "I need to talk with you only," Fleur emphasized, a bit annoyed by Hermione's presence. "I have no secrets from her," Harry stated flatly. "It doesn't matter. The information I have for you is strictly private. You may decide how much you want to share after you hear it all," Fleur insisted. "No, she stays!" Harry said forcefully, not sure why he was so insistent. Fleur shrugged. "Fine. I just don't want it to backfire if you eventually find her presence not so welcome." She sat at a table and put her wand away, motioning for the two to do the same. She waited until they were seated and their wands safely stowed before she started talking again. "I first need to apologize, Monsieur Potter. My comment about 'little boy' when you were called as a champion was unwarranted and I regret it. I hope you can forgive me, considering you are really younger than the other champions and being so slim you look even younger than your age." Harry nodded. "Alright, you're forgiven. Was that what you wanted to talk about?" She smiled a bit nervously. "No. It was just something that needed to be cleared before we start." She took a deep breath and then continued talking. "You see, once I knew who the champions were, I wrote a letter to my parents. I even complained that one of the champions was selected clearly against the rules, being under-age. My Dad then checked the information and discovered something unexpected." She took a parchment from her pocket and put it in front of Harry. "This!" Harry looked puzzled. "What is it?" he asked. "I suggest you unfold it and read it," Fleur said very seriously. Harry did as suggested. He looked at the parchment and was suddenly frightened. It was titled "Marriage Contract". Hermione, seeing his reaction, put a calming hand on his shoulder and scanned the parchment quickly. "This is more than fifty years old," she noted. Fleur, who looked very tense, seemed to have relaxed a bit hearing this. "Yes, this is an old marriage contract, signed by my paternal great-grandparents and yours before either my dad or yours were born." She noticed both younger teens looking at her expectantly and she continued. "Houses Potter and Delacour went into an alliance to fight Grindelwald and wanted to seal it with this contract. They didn't expect both houses to only have boys, resulting in this contract being transferred to the next generation." "That means you and me?" "Not necessarily. I have a younger sister. You may consider her more appropriate for the terms of the contract, giving you more time to enjoy your youth." She didn't understand the sarcastic scrawl on Harry's face. There wasn't much joy in his life and he had no reason to expect it to change. "Anyhow, this contract should only be officially presented to you after your eighteenth birthday and then you have a year to decide what to do. You may pass the contract onto the next generation if you're already married or betrothed by then. I'm not sure what the penalty for not holding your side of the contract may be, but it can't be pleasant." Harry thought for a moment. "So, I don't really have to know about this until then. Why bother informing me now?" Fleur seemed to hesitate for a moment and her cheeks reddened. "There's another secret involved. Please promise to never say a word about what I'm going to tell you now to anybody outside the three of us and my own family. I won't ask for a magical oath, but please treat this like one." "I promise," both said in unison. Fleur looked surprised at the sound but continued after a moment. "You already know my grandmother is a Veela. Do you know what it means?" "It means you are quarter Veela," Hermione answered as if reading the answer from a book. Fleur smiled nervously. "This is what I like most people to believe, but it isn't so. The offspring of a Veela is a Veela, no exception." Harry frowned and Hermione was already evaluating the information. "You mean that your mother is also a Veela and so are you and your sister?" "Right! It also means that I can only have female descendants." Harry was still trying to understand the implications, yet Hermione was going full-steam ahead. "Then you can't produce an heir for your husband, and that may null the contract." Fleur sighed. "It's even more complicated. In order to fulfil the contract, the spouses don't have to be the main ones, which means that even taking the other party as second wife would be good enough." "That's good!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry will be able to wed whoever he chooses and have an heir with her and then marry you or your sister according to the contract!" She looked happily at Harry only to find a very bewildered teen. "Aren't you glad about it?" she asked him. "Should I? I'm not even sure how one produces an heir and what it really means to get married and you're now talking about me having to marry more than one woman. I'm totally confused, really. Would any of you care to enlighten me?" Fleur seemed to be holding back her laughter, yet Hermione looked appalled at his lack of knowledge and then she became determined. "Haven't your relatives ever taught you about how children are born and how men and women interact?" she asked Harry. He just shook his head sadly. "I'll teach you!" she promised, blushing crimson. "Then you'll understand all this much better." She turned towards Fleur now. "Can you leave the contract with Harry for a few days?" "It's only a copy. He may keep it indefinitely." Hermione looked at Fleur scrutinizingly. "What happened to your accent? You're talking with no accent now, yet you've had a very pronounced accent whenever I heard you before." Fleur smiled at that. "A French blond should not let the others suspect she may also have brains, especially in Britain. It may cause a major uproar, you know..." Hermione smiled at that as well. Fleur turned back to Harry. "I know it is a lot to digest. I suggest you just try to understand this and see what you'd like to do. I'd like to talk with your girlfriend alone now, if you don't mind." "I'm not his girlfriend!" Hermione said at the same time that Harry said, "She's not my girlfriend!" Fleur smiled once again, making her look even more beautiful than usual. "Well, Hermione is a girl and is your friend. That's good enough for me. Now, will you give us a few minutes for 'girls' talk'?" Harry nodded and left the room reluctantly. Fleur resumed talking as soon as the door closed behind him. "You know what a Veela allure or thrall is, don't you?" "Yes. It's a kind of magic that Veela have naturally which makes all males around them desire them madly when it's active," Hermione gave the textbook answer. "Who may not be affected by the allure?" "Somebody who has a true love or who's mated to a Veela." "Right. It may also affect females, if it's really powerful, although that is not well documented," Fleur added. "So?" It was clear to Hermione that this was leading somewhere, yet she didn't know where. "I've set my allure to maximum since I approached your table," Fleur informed her. "You could see all the boys with their mouths agape and most of the girls as well. Guess who wasn't affected at all?" Hermione already knew. "Harry and I." "Quite right. This is why I was so reluctant to let you join us here. You're deeply in love with Harry just as Harry loves you, although he's not yet aware of this. I was afraid you might react badly to the news and get into a fight." Hermione didn't seem to hear the last words. She was contemplating her feelings for Harry, trying to understand when their friendly relations turned into much more. "Harry loves me?" she asked nobody in particular. "It's quite evident, at least to me," Fleur smiled at her. "Now, do you think you'd like to marry him before he turns eighteen?" Hermione thought for a moment. "I'm sure I'd like it, but can I be sure that we shall both feel the same four years from now?" "You can't be sure about such things, although I believe you're made for each other. I only want to know how you feel now. Assuming you'll continue loving each other, I'd like you to marry him, or at least make him propose to you, before he graduates. That way you'll become Lady Potter, his first wife, while I or my sister may claim the post of his second wife only if you both feel it would not adversely affect your marriage." "What if we feel otherwise?" "Then the contract will pass to your descendants and mine and nobody will get in harm's way. This may not be the case if he isn't betrothed when he reaches eighteen. In that case, he must marry me or my sister or he may lose his magic." Hermione looked determined. "Whoever he falls in love with, I'll make sure he gets engaged before graduation. It won't do to force him to marry or lose his magic." Fleur smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm quite sure he'll choose you. His heart has already chosen. Only his mind is not yet aware of this."