Companion to Promises and their consequences:
Fleur Delacour was unsure of herself. It had been wonderful during the time that she had spent with Harry Potter but that closeness had terrified her. She did the one thing she could only think of...she fled. It was a mistake she knew, the first of many she would later realize. She traveled the world wherever Gringotts felt her services were necessary.
After she left Harry, there was an emptiness within her that she could not fill, so she tried a relationship with any man that caught her fancy at the time. However, none of them measured up to him, the one she loved, the one she longed for. She knew that she should have at least sent him a letter, letting him know how she was doing, but every time she picked up a quill, she couldn't bring herself to write. She realized that she was terrified of what he would think of her for abandoning him.
She began to wonder if Harry had moved on. Did he find someone else to love and who would love him in return. Did he have a family? Did he have children? Her heart ached at the thought but she realized it was her fault if he had.
As time went by, she began to feel lonely, missing the company of friends, of family...of him. It got so bad that she decided to return home after three years of being away. How would they react to her, she wondered. How would he react to her?
So, she returned to the one spot that she loved, that always comforted her. To her favourite tree, their tree, she realized. As Fleur continued on, with her head low and her eyes filling with tears, she found herself walking into someone.
Merde, she thought to herself as she stood up. She was startled when she heard an all-too familiar voice, one that she longed to hear and one she was terrified to hear.
"Fleur?!" That startled voice asked, with shock evident in that one spoken word.
Fearful, she looked up and found herself staring into the emerald eyes of the one she had longed for.
"'Arry?"