Chapter 17

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Chapter 17

After dinner the dancing resumed, and Harry took his time to dance with his date thoroughly and even ended up dancing with his other two friends, Heidi and Penny, making the night quite relaxing. Harry should have known however that as soon as his guard was down things would begin to go wrong.

It started with Madame Bones approaching him as the night was beginning to wind down, "Good evening Mr. Potter. I was just getting ready to return to my home, but I cannot seem to locate your brother or Susan. Do you know where they might have gone off to?"

Harry had been sitting around chatting with his friends, his date at his side as they were all done dancing for the night, and just enjoying the atmosphere and conversation when he turned to face the woman. Surely his brother hadn't been so stupid to sneak the girl away into a broom closet while the head of the DLME, his dads boss, her aunt, was here, "I have not seen them in the past hour, Madame Bones. Though if you would like some assistance looking for them I could easily assist you."

Everyone looked at Harry in surprise; it was unlike the boy to offer help on anything for free. Even Madame Bones seemed surprised by his willing offer. Secretly Harry was worried his brother's hormones had gotten the better of him, and did not want to see him get murdered by Madame Bones, "If you could, Mr Potter. I would like to be going home."

Harry nodded, pulling out his wand and making a small circle, "Revelio."

The charm to reveal all the tracker charms he had on his brother from practice had been activated. Harry alone could see a small blue line appear in his vision, and he turned to Fleur, "I will be right back. I am going to grab my brother, and make sure everything goes smoothly."

He winked at his date, kissed her hand gently, then asked Madame Bones to follow him. The two left the great hall in an instant and the women immediately began questioning him, "Do I want to know why you have such a powerful tracking charm on your little brother? Or do I want to know if he even knows of such things."

Not even giving the women a look he kept his eyes on the faint blue line that was leading him to his brother, "He does know, and if Susan was nearly murdered in the castle on multiple occasions wouldn't you have put tracking charms on her as well?"

"It's not your job to keep your brother safe. It is the job of the-"

"If you say Auror Department or Headmasters office I will laugh at you Madame Bones, so I wouldn't even bother finishing that sentence." The boy said coldly.

The woman bit back her distaste at the boy's disrespect as he surged forward a bit faster, clearly done with pleasant conversation. Shouting was heard up ahead, and when Harry saw just who was doing the shouting his wand was in his hand blasting Igor Karkaroff backwards and away from his little brother who had a wand in his face, "Good evening, High Master. It seems you are about to have a very poor night." Harry said coldly.

Justin immediately said to his brother, "Susan and I were just walking the grounds, we didn't mean to eavesdrop on anyone I swear!"

"I quite frankly don't care if you were or not. There is no reason for this Death Eater to point his wand at you." Harry answered fiercely.

The man quickly stood up outraged with his wand in his hand, "You dare attack me child. I will have you arrested."

"I could just declare a blood feud right here and now. You had your wand pointed at a member of House Potter in a threatening way. I wouldn't mind wiping you off the face of the Earth so don't test me, High Master." Harry said mockingly.

Amelia Bones however stepped in at this, "That is enough gentlemen. Wands away or I will have you both thrown in a cell in Azkaban tonight."

Harry put his wand in his pocket immediately, "I don't need a wand to beat this coward. Get out of my sight, Karkaroff before I do something I might regret."

The boy's eyes flashed a dark shade of green and his magic was projecting off of him, as if it was accidental magic. The High Master for Durmstrang looked furious, but also saw that he was outnumbered. He glared harshly at the Potter children before storming off in the direction of the boat. When he left Harry turned to his brother, "Who was he speaking with?"

Susan however beat the boy to the punch, "Professor Snape, Harry. They were talking about their Dark Marks..."

Amelia Bones had approached the scene quietly, but had now chimed in, "What about them?"

Justin replied, "They are getting darker. We heard Karkaroff tell Snape that he should know the signs as well as he did. That they should run while they still have the chance."

Harry looked onto the snow covered Hogwarts grounds in silence. Worrying that things were coming to a head faster than he thought possible. Looking back at his brother he said, "Be glad I hadn't taken the tracking charms off you. This could have been messy. Under normal circumstances I would ask what you were thinking, but this time I probably don't want to know. Madame Bones, perhaps we can have a word while we let these two say goodnight."

Susan and Justin both gave him a grateful, yet embarrassed look, while Madame Bones said, "Very well. Make it quick, Susan, I would like to return home."

Harry gave his brother a nod, and he and Madame Bones took a short walk around the corner to give the couple their privacy, "This can't be a coincidence. The Death Eaters at the cup, Pettigrew coming after Justin last year. His name and mine coming out of the goblet of fire, and now Karkaroff saying his mark is getting darker. I know you are going to say it is not my concern, but at the end of the day these idiots in masks are going to come after my brother. If Voldemort is to return somehow then he would definitely come after him, and I cannot be around forever to protect him. I need to be in the know, and if it comes to it I need to be in the hunt."

Amelia Bones eyed the young man carefully as if measuring just how much she would tell him, "Those aren't the only odd things that have been happening. We have been finding a trail of dead bodies, and missing people that no one can explain. It is starting to seem just like last time. Before he really rose to power."

Harry nodded. He had contacts everywhere keeping him updated on the situation, "My primary goal is keeping Justin safe, but I am also not foolish enough to believe that if the Dark Lord returns he would leave me or the rest of my family or yours for that matter alone. We were survivors and proof that he is not a God, and he will seek to crush us first. If I could take a team of the best duelists we have left I think we could take him. Dumbledore, myself, mum, dad, Mad-Eye, and a few others... I think we could put a stop to this, we just need a time and place to do it."

Amelia looked over at the young man clearly aware that he was worried, but chose not to comment on this, "I will do what I can and dig as deeply as possible to get answers. Don't worry I will keep you in the loop, and I will expect you to do the same for me."

Looking out over the grounds again the young man said, "When it comes to Voldemort and his followers we are all on the same side and same playing field with the same goal. I will do my best to keep you in the loop as information comes to me. I will send you my owl over the break to see what my contacts have dug up, and see if we can get new information...even if we can't use it strictly in your department. My father can be our go between for now."

The woman nodded, "That would be good. Now go grab your brother and send my niece to me, I believe I will be wishing you a good evening. Mr Potter and believe that we will be in touch shortly."

Harry gave the women a curt nod, and went to retrieve his brother before he found himself in any more trouble. The Potter Heir wanted to scold his younger brother for being foolish, but the content smile on his face took the wind out of sails. He had to allow his brother to be a kid sometimes.

No words were exchanged between the brothers as they returned to the hall and rejoined Harry's group of friends. When Justin took the seat on Harry's left Fleur raised her eyes at him, "You took quite some time, mon cher, is everything okay?"

Harry gave the French girl a tight smile, "Just bailing my brother out of trouble as usual. You did miss me cursing a Death Eater on the grounds just a few minutes ago. Don't think we got my preferred bloody Christmas, but it will have to do for now."

Cedric was shaking his head, while Penny looked like she might bang her head on the table, "On Christmas, Harry?"

Fleur however eyes narrowed, "You had fun without me? Which Death Eater did you curse? I quite enjoyed our last battle with them. Even if the beginning was quite unpleasant."

Harry grinned at the girl, "Igor Karkaroff. Thought he could wave a wand in my brother's face, and I quickly rectified his thought process. Had my father been here we would've had quite the bloody Christmas indeed. A Blood feud has not been seen in England in many years, and I almost enjoyed the possibility of kicking one off."

This made Justin laugh at his brother's words, clearly taking the dark sense of humor that his role model gave him to heart. The other's merely shook their heads, but a ghost of a smile crept on the faces of at least most of their party. Herbert offered Harry a grin, "Chin up, mate. Party's almost over care to indulge a little?"

The man opened his robe to indicate a small flask was hiding in the pocket, and Harry gave the boy a huge grin, "Justin, I think it is time you join the friends in your house. My boys and I are going to have a little fun. Herbert, I knew I liked you for a reason."

Justin immediately protested, "Oh come on, Harry! I work so hard in our training, can't I have a little fun?"

Penelope however already was on the ball though, "No, Harry, don't you dare! He is too young. We are all too young."

Fleur however cut the girl off, "He has earned his place among us. He beats people three years his senior left, right and center with a wand. Something that couldn't have been earned without exceptionally hard work. Let the boy have his fun while we can watch out for him. He is after all a Champion."

Herbert just grinned at the table, "I have plenty to go around for those who would like to spice things up. My older brother enchanted it for me for my birthday, and that is all I will say on the matter. Who wants some?"

Harry, Fleur, Aimee, and her date, Jean Claude, immediately accepted. Cedric looked like he really wanted to as he bit his lip, but the glaring Penelope seemed to convince him from asking. Trying to help his best friend out, Harry looked at the head girl, "Oh, come on, Penny, we are all going to bed soon. What's a couple sips of alcohol going to do?"

The young man immediately began dispersing his flask into the glasses of the gathered few, and when he got Penny he wiggled his eyebrows, "Lighten up, Penny! Final year at Hogwarts, let's create some memories."

The brown haired girl shook her head clearly disapproving, but Cedric took her hand, "My man is right, Penny. A few drinks won't hurt anyone. We won't overindulge."

She looked uncertainly at her boyfriend, before nodding her acceptance leading to some cheering and clapping from her friends. Herbert raised his glass, "To the champions of the Triwizard tournament. They brought us all here together, and I am glad we got the chance to be together like this, and enjoy a night to remember."

Jean Claude raised his glass with a thick accent, "A night to remember!"

They all raised their glasses to meet the cheers, and Harry winked at his younger brother as he downed the shot of alcohol, and Herbert immediately went about refilling their cups. Penny shook her head violently indicating it may have been her first shot of alcohol, while Cedric's eyes widened. This made the green-eyed boy roll his eyes realizing he was drinking with amateurs, but his brother took it well and merely grinned at the group. The Potter Heir counted his lucky stars that Madame Bones had left and her niece was gone, so his brother shouldn't get in too much trouble.

Fleur took the shot well with a coy smile that she gave her date, and Harry had to look away for the first time since he had known the girl forcing his occlumency shields to avoid her allure. He was mildly impressed with his small circle of friends that they could avoid Fleur's natural call, but wondered if their determination to keep themselves out of trouble with their own dates was a factor.

When Herbert had filled their glasses once again Harry glanced at his brother who seemed to have taken it fairly well, and didn't object to him accepting another drink. The next cheers came from Aimee, "To International cooperation. Here we all are. New friends, and memories we will never forget."

Fleur winked at Harry when she answered the cheer, making the boy realize the game was on, and answered the cheers, "To memories created with people we will never forget."

The group all downed their drinks easily, and Harry was among the first to ask Herbert for a refill. This time almost everyone gave a little shiver. Harry wasn't sure what the alcohol content was of each drink, but he began to suspect they were drinking something pretty ridiculous as the feeling of relaxation washed over him. Dueling with Karkaroff earlier should have left him on edge all evening, and whatever Herbert brought was clearly affecting him already, but admittedly he didn't have much experience in the field of alcohol. His master preferred a single glass of wine with his dinner, not shots of whatever Herbert had brought.

More drinks and cheers were heard over the remaining thirty minutes of the Yule Ball, and Harry was thankful Fleur had not asked for a final dance, because he was fairly certain after the fourth drink he was incapable. As the ball held the final dance and ended, Harry summoned Ron and Hermione to escort his stumbling brother back to the Gryffindor common room, but not before the brother surprised him with a hug, "Happy Christmas, Harry."

The young man returned the embrace with a light smile, "Happy Christmas, Justin. I will see you later in the morning,"

With their farewells said, Harry entrusted the Gryfinndors to see his brother back to his common room, but with one last drink the rest of the party joined them. Jean Claude was kissing down Aimee's neck and the girl practically purred that they would be returning to the carriage. Herbert escorted Heidi back to their own common room, while Cedric agreed to return Penny to hers. Penny was giggly drunk as she took Cedric's hand, leaving Fleur and Harry alone as they bid adieu to Dumbledore and McGonagall who were the last to depart for the and Fleur were walking along the path back to the carriage of Beauxbatons when she spoke softly, "I hate the weather here, but it is quite beautiful when it is undisturbed, non?"

Harry smiled in agreement, "I thought the same thing when I came to pick you up before the ball. It was untouched when I walked through. As if I was the very first to ever make the trek. It was an interesting experience to say the least."

Fleur shook her head, "I still can't believe you walked through this freezing death trap just to greet me."

"Like I said earlier, my lady, some things are worth freezing for." Harry responded cheekily.

This made Fleur laugh as she held the young man closer than before, "I thank you for such a wonderful evening, and even accepting Aimee and her date among your comrades."

Harry smiled as he kept his eyes forward, "Well it was my honor to...how was it Herbert phrased it? Keep international diplomacy. I was glad to have you and your friend in our company. It was a night I will never forget."

Fleur smiled as she tightened the grip around her companion's arm, "I wish we could extend the night to longer, but there is nowhere for us to safely do so. Next time perhaps? Non?"

"Next time." Harry promised with a smile as they made it to Beauxbatons carriage.

The couple stopped before they could say their goodnight and Fleur gave her companion for the evening a big smile, "Thank you for the evening, Monsieur Potter. It seems I fall further into your debt everyday?"

"I once told you, my lady, that no debt could ever be between allies. I can only hope this was not a one time occurrence?" Harry asked solemnly.

The look that Fleur gave him promised much more than one night, but she answered his question, "Non, not one night. It was simply too good for one night? Oui?"

With that she leaned in for a soft kiss that seemed magical in nature. The two held the kiss longer than was appropriate if they were sober, and Harry wanted nothing more than to ask what her plans were for the remainder of the night, but instead the French girl said quietly, "We must do that again soon."

Her request remained unanswered, but only for a moment when Harry's brain caught up with him, "It would be my honor, my lady. I hope to see you before the New Year."

Fleur leaned forward and captured his lips again, "Count on it, mon cher."

With that the young woman forced herself away from him and entered the carriage giving one last smile of happiness. Harry stood there for several long moments before he headed towards the ward line of Hogwarts. He had great news to bring to his master, as well as happy Yuletide celebrations that he always long awaited with the man he himself looked up to.

His last thoughts as he apparated away were of a silver-haired goddess that was slowly capturing his heart.

(A/N) Definitely a more HarryXFleur chapter, and I look forward to showing you all the progression of this relationship in the coming chapters. I admit I anticipated more of a romance between these two when beginning this story, but it has taken a bit of a backseat to Harry and Grindelwald.

If you want to read through Chapter 25, join me on Discord! Just delete the spaces below, and it will take you straight to my page.

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