As their second French lesson wound to a close, neither of them made the first move to end their time together. Fleur eventually managed to find a reason to continue talking.
"I nearly forgot," she said, her new blanket still wrapped around her torso. "I may have thought of a way for me to join your study group."
Harry sat up straighter. He didn't mind passing along whatever it was Dumbledore was going to teach him, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to do it alone.
"Your invisibility cloak," she said. "Remember? It can completely keep my allure from affecting people. I could be there to help you, I would just be…invisible. That is, if you do not mind me using it again."
He nodded.
"I trust you to take care of it. I don't mind. But how are we supposed to get you into the castle? I doubt they'll let you come visit."
"That is something you'll have to figure out," she said. "There is not much I can do about that. All the same, I will give it some-"
Before they could continue planning, a knock at the door cut through their conversation.
"It's closing time!" came Madam Rosmerta's muffled voice through the door.
"Thank you!" Fleur called before turning back to Harry. "It seems that we are out of time."
"Yeah," he said, startled to look out the window to find a night sky greeting him. It hadn't felt like they had been talking for hours.
"When is your next Hogsmeade weekend?" she asked, reluctantly folding her blanket as she stood.
"I'm not sure," he said, grabbing his notepaper from the table. "Hopefully, there's at least one more before Christmas."
"Hopefully," she agreed, holding the folded blanket to her front and shivering. "My apartment will undoubtedly be frigid when I apparate back."
"I've never liked apparating," he said. "It's so uncomfortable."
She looked at him, another teasing smile resting on her lips.
"Is it?" she asked, adopting a thoughtful expression. "For me, it is rather warm and comfortable. Cozy"
"Why is it so different?"
She shrugged.
"It is that way for all Veela, as far as I am aware. I have not had the opportunity to ask many others. We are just lucky, I suppose."
"Remind me to side-along with you from now on."
She shook her head, stray wisps of hair shimmering in the dying firelight.
"You would feel the same crushing cold as you always do."
Another insistent knock at the door halted their conversation. Fleur drew her mouth into a dissatisfied line, then put her blanket down on the table and held her arms open.
Harry stepped forward into the hug, wrapping his arms around her middle. The warmth of her suffused his body, driving the chill that had begun to creep in from the dying fire. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she held him tight, the strength of her grip surprising him.
He let her hold onto him for a while, enjoying the sense of comfort she always managed to engender in him. After a few long moments of silence and no movement from Fleur, he stirred.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded against his shoulder and stepped back, releasing her grip on him.
"I was…lonelier than I thought," she said with a weak smile. "I needed that. Thank you, 'Arry."
"You know," he said, trying not to fidget in place.
He'd made such a big deal about it. Was it strange to change his mind?
"If you need one…you can just do it. You don't need to ask…er…anymore."
She froze as he spoke, then burst out with her wide, brilliant smile. She stepped forward and swept him up in another hug.
"Thank you," she said as she stepped back. "That means a lot to me."
She gathered her things and smiled a sad goodbye smile.
"I will talk to you soon. Goodbye, 'Arry."
"Goodbye," he answered, watching as she turned on the spot and vanished. The small 'pop' of her disappearance did little to fill the hole she left behind.
XxX
November came and set up camp, each day impossibly long as he looked forward to the coming Christmas holidays. Dumbledore's lessons had not been the break in the monotony he had hoped, instead being a slightly varied refresher on the basics. Though, he had been able to replicate his impressive shield charm almost at will.
The first change to his routine had come mid-month when a light brown owl landed in front of him one morning with a letter tied to its leg. His name was written across the front in unfamiliar looping handwriting.
Harry,
I am sorry it took so long. This year at Beauxbatons has been hard. I have not had much time to translate.
I hope your lessons with Fleur are going well. She told me you are learning quickly. I am a little jealous. It is boring to learn from a book.
This is all I have. Even after two months. If I have to translate for another night, I am going to go crazy. I hope this small letter is okay.
-Gabrielle
He folded the letter, a grin on his face. Despite her stilted sentences, she had made real progress from the extremely limited English she had spoken when he had arrived at their house. He could only hope his letter was as coherent.
He made it a point to start his letter that evening, anticipating that it would take him a few nights to finish. It was a welcome distraction for both him and Fleur, who helped him with translations each night.
How would you say 'gift?'
We talked about it during our last lesson, remember? We used my new blanket as an example.
Cadeau?
Well done!
Fleur set down her quill and returned her free hand to her steaming mug of cocoa, letting the warmth bleed through her frigid fingers. She took a sip and stared out her window, towards the lights of Paris. A thin veil of snow fell, melting against the heat of her charmed window.
Her mind drifted away from the quiet night, as it often did, back to Harry. It was impossible to believe that it had been only a year since their first discussion in that drafty classroom.
She had just been looking for a simple friend. Someone she could talk to about the mundane things in life like she saw all the people around her doing. She hadn't asked him into that classroom so he could become one of the most important people in her life.
And yet here she was.
She smiled into her cocoa at the thought. It wasn't hard to be an important person in her life when there were so few, but still…
She sighed and her breath pushed the steam away from her mug. She checked the paper for a reply and found it frustratingly empty. He must still be hard at work on his thoughtful letter to her sister.
He was…complicated. Many nights had wandered by as she remembered the way he rose to his feet to face the darkest wizard in recent memory. Not once, but three times. All while she could do nothing but sit helpless, calling in vain to a fire inside her that had been completely used up.
And yet she had seen him more than once so haunted by his thoughts that a single wrong word would scatter him to the wind.
She frowned and took a long drink of her cocoa to pull her back to the present. Another message awaited her, one that sank her heart into her stomach.
An effect that nagged at something indistinct at the back of her mind.
She focused instead on the paper.
I'm done with my letter. I asked Ron about Hogsmeade, and there aren't any more until after Christmas.
She wasn't sure if she was projecting her own immense disappointment onto the paper, but she was positive she could see unhappiness in the quick strokes of his quill. She set her cocoa down and inked her quill, thinking of something lighthearted that would cheer him up.
That is heartbreaking.
She examined her quill to see if it had been jinxed.
Though not untrue, it was certainly not what she had meant to put down. Their little routine had become dear to her; bundling up in her blanket and writing back and forth. The last thing she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable with how much she wanted to talk to him.
It is. Christmas seems like a long way off.
A wave of affection rolled through her as he put her fears to rest with simple words. And he hadn't even known he had done it.
I am looking forward to it.
I had an idea.
She finished her drink while waiting for a reply. Gradually, her patience wore thin.
What is it?
Well. You know I like to cook. So I thought if your apartment has a big enough kitchen, maybe I could put something together for us to eat.
She looked over her shoulder at her tiny kitchen, practically unused. It'd be nice to have someone in there. Might make it feel more…homey.
It'd be nice to have Harry in there.
She turned from the kitchen and those thoughts and focused back on her paper.
It's not very big. Were you wanting to make dinner or just something small to eat?
A small kitchen won't be a problem. I'll have to be smart about how I prepare things. I was planning on dinner but I can do something small if you want.
She grinned down at her paper, a giggle escaping as she accepted her first-ever invite to dinner while sitting under a blanket in her pajamas. Even if the dinner was in her own apartment.
Dinner sounds wonderful. Now I am looking forward to it even more.
XxX
Gabrielle jolted upright in her chair, an insistent tapping on the window waking her from what definitely hadn't been a nap during her study time. She stood and ran to the window to allow Harry's owl entrance from the cold. With a quick flap of her wings, Hedwig soared from the window sill over to her desk.
She shut the window with a shiver, closing out the near-winter air. She crossed the room and pulled the letter from Hedwig's leg. Across the front, in an untidy script, was her name. A smile lifted her cheeks, replacing the prominent frown that had found a home there during her time back at school.
Gabrielle,
It's okay! Having a tutor is much easier than learning on your own. I'm impressed! Your letter was very easy to read. I hope mine is as close to as good as yours.
My year at Hogwarts has been hard. OWLs are coming up. At least there haven't been any surprise tournaments.
I wanted to ask your opinion on something. Sirius and I are coming over for Christmas. Can you think of a gift that your parents would like? I already know what I'm getting you and Fleur.
Sorry my letter isn't longer. I hope it is as readable as yours was!
-Harry
She reread the letter, impressed by his adequate French. Though she suspected he'd had some help. She looked up to Hedwig, who pulled her head out from under her wing.
"It will take some time before I have an answer if you want to go back," she said to the owl. Hedwig looked from her to the window, then crossed the room with a flap of her wings, alighting on the sill.
Gabrielle opened the window and watched as the owl disappeared into the evening sky. She latched the window closed and returned to her desk, rereading Harry's letter with a smile. It was nice to have someone to write to, even if it was a bit of a challenge to do so. She missed the inane conversations she'd had with her friends last year. Before she'd had to be sequestered almost all the time because of her abilities.
She didn't mind the time alone. It was far preferable to being around so many people while she was still…figuring it out.
Fleur had warned her what it'd be like. Frequently. But she still hadn't been prepared for the sudden rush of 'noise' that had accompanied the full-fledged arrival of her allure.
She had thought it'd happen overnight, not in the middle of Herbology.
Fleur's frequent letters had been a lifesaver, as had her tips for sneaking down to the kitchens or out to the fountain at night for a change of scenery. Though the long-distance contact had been welcome, she found it harder and harder to start another letter to her older sister. She'd known that Fleur would eventually graduate, move out, and find a career, but now that it had happened…she just seemed so far away.
She set Harry's letter atop Fleur's most recent and returned to her classwork. The mind-numbing report on French Magical Traditions was due the next day, and even with all her spare time, she'd managed to save it until the night before.
XxX
The final dregs of November saw Harry's first intense lesson with Dumbledore.
"That'll do," Dumbledore called, allowing Harry to finally rest.
Harry doubled over, clutching the stitch in his side. Casting stunners all day would be no problem if he didn't have to run while doing it.
"You are getting faster," Dumbledore said, summoning two chairs for them. "It is not yet muscle memory though."
Harry sank into the offered chair, panting.
"I feel like I could cast the spell in my sleep, Sir."
"Indeed. However, I can tell you are still thinking before you cast the spell. Your reflexes are excellent, but it is not yet automatic. There is a moment in which you recall the wand motions and focus your mind before casting the spell. It is that moment that we are working to eliminate. Once you are able to achieve that with one spell, it becomes easier with others. That level of understanding is the first step to non-verbal magic."
Harry's head snapped up to stare at Dumbledore.
"We're going to work on non-verbals?"
"That is my hope, yes. In the event you find yourself in the midst of Voldemort's supporters once again, the surprise of non-verbal spells from someone your age could buy you the time you need to get away."
"Could you…show me, Sir?"
With an indulgent smile, Dumbledore stood and brandished his thin, knobby wand.
XxX
"I've…never seen anything like it," Harry said, leading Ron and Hermione up the stairwell to the seventh floor. "Well, once before I suppose, but this was different."
"When have you seen someone throwing stunners like they were breathing?" Ron asked with a laugh.
"In the graveyard," he answered quietly. "It was different."
"What was it like?" Hermione asked, her voice tentative. "Not the…not the torture. But what was it like to see him fight?"
"You couldn't follow it all," Harry said, the bright bursts of colliding spells flaring to life in his vision. "They started dueling out of nowhere. Dumbledore transfigured the ground to catch killing curses. They started matching spells in midair at one point…I don't…I could never describe it."
He stopped talking once they reached the empty wall, trying with all his might to keep his thoughts focused on the duel, and not what had happened before.
He took a deep breath in then let it out, and imagined the room Dumbledore had used for their lesson. They stepped into a narrow room with training dummies arrayed down on one side.
"Well," Harry said, turning to his friends, "let's get started."
He ran the course alongside his friends, pushing thoughts from his mind the way Dumbledore had instructed. He found brief moments of clarity, where the motion of his wand, breathing, and running footfalls fell into line. In those short seconds, he found he could all but breathe the word and produce a vivid red jet of light. Each time he realized as much, he lost the nebulous feeling and cursed himself inwardly.
He also tried to keep an eye on Ron and Hermione, awkwardly correcting when necessary and doing his best to explain the concepts he'd struggled with just hours before. When he noticed them flagging, he called a halt to their exercise, bringing three comfortable chairs into existence.
"Sorry," he said, running a frustrated hand through his sweaty hair. "You're getting a little better, but not a lot. I don't know how to explain it like Dumbledore did. He made it make so much sense."
"This is the first lesson, you know," Hermione said with a tired smile. "It takes time to improve. Besides, you're good at showing. We can learn that way too."
Ron only nodded, breathing heavily.
"If we can find a way to get Fleur in here, that'd solve our problem," Harry grumbled, wiping his face on his sleeve. "She could explain and I could show, since she has to be under the invisibility cloak.
"I've been thinking about that, and I had an idea."
"Just now?" Ron asked.
"Well…during the practice runs," Hermione said.
"The idea was not to think," Harry chided. "Not to think about something else."
"I know," she said, slouching down in her chair. "I'm having a really tough time with it."
"What's the idea then?" Ron asked.
"Well, this room can make all sorts of impossible things, can't it?"
XxX
Do you remember the Hog's Head? That pub I told you about? I can meet you there with the cloak.
That sounds perfect! I am looking forward to helping you with your lessons. Have you considered showing others what you are learning? It is unlikely we will be the only ones who someday come face to face with the Death Eaters.
We shouldn't be facing Death Eaters at all.
I am not having this argument again. You will not be in danger like that again alone. We will be in it together.
Fleur pursed her lips, tugging the edges of her warm blanket tight around herself. This disagreement was far from an uncommon occurrence, and had cropped up from time to time since he had come to stay during the summer. She'd noticed progress in his dogged resolution that he had to face it all alone, but it was slow going.
Who knew he could be so damn stubborn?
Dumbledore talked about that a little bit in our first lesson. I hate the idea of you all being in danger, but I couldn't just stand around if it were the other way around. I guess I understand. I still don't like it.
You see?
She smiled, a memory shifting the course of her quill.
It is as I said. Together, or not at all.
His quick replies came to a halt and she frowned, staring down at her frustratingly stagnant paper. Each minute that passed fueled a tangle of anxiety in her chest.
She had thought the words supportive and innocuous. Had he misunderstood? What was there to misunderstand? Had she pushed too hard?
The painful knot uncoiled as two words traced their way across the paper.
Together then.
XxX
Harry waited for Fleur at a booth in the Hog's Head, trying unsuccessfully to appear as though he belonged in the dingy pub. It wasn't as though students didn't visit, but he doubted any of them stuck out like he did. Especially considering it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend.
He silently berated himself. All it took was one person mentioning that he was out of the school for their fledgling study group to find its premature end. He brushed against the invisibility cloak he hid beneath his robes. He had written to her what felt like an hour ago. What was taking so long?
A tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump free of his skin. He turned to find a hazy distortion standing at the end of his table.
"Are you ready?" Fleur's whispered voice drifted through the air.
He nodded imperceptibly, slid off his seat, and walked from the pub. Once outside, he slipped into a nearby alley after checking to ensure nobody could see him. The distortion shimmered, then coalesced into Fleur, who bounded forward in one quick step and bundled him into a warm hug.
"I am sorry," she said, her vaporous breath warm against his ear. He shivered. "It has been a difficult week. Whispers of your headmaster's goals have filtered through the DMLE and everybody is tense. They are slipping in their occlumency and I have been getting flashes of their sense while working. It is maddening."
"I'm sorry," he said into her shoulder, squeezing once before letting go. "But we really should get going. I'll be in loads of trouble if I'm caught in an alley with you."
He was glad for the evening's darkness to cover the heat in his cheeks at the inadvertent suggestion.
"You brought the invisibility cloak?"
Could she feel that he was embarrassed?
He tried to stuff his runaway thoughts down and focus on the simple task in front of him.
"Er…yeah," he said, producing the cloak from his robes. "It should fit both of us okay."
She eyed the garment for a moment before nodding. She had been less than thrilled that they'd have to sneak through the castle up to the seventh floor. While they had managed to find a secret passage out of the school, it had ended at the large portrait behind the bar at the Hog's Head, and they couldn't very well ask the barman if they could sneak someone into the school.
She crouched slightly to match his height and he swung it over their shoulders. Once the translucent cloth settled, he directed them out of the alley and down the sparsely populated back street. He was thankful it hadn't been snowing. That was a problem they'd need to figure out before it happened.
As they turned onto the main street, Fleur turned her head to watch the handful of people unaware of their passing. She peered at them for a long moment before turning back to face the direction they were walking.
"I want to…mess with them," she admitted in a soft whisper.
Their body heat trapped beneath the cloak kept her breath from fogging and surrounded him with her pleasant, comfortable cinnamon scent.
"I do not know why, but I want to play some small trick. Being so thoroughly invisible is liberating. You could get away with all sorts of things."
No sooner had she finished speaking than her step faltered, almost exposing their feet to the air. With a quick double-step, she resumed pace and shot a glance over at him.
"Have you ever played tricks on people?"
He shook his head, frowning in confusion.
"No. It doesn't seem right. I know what you mean though. I used to think about using it to prank Ron, but I don't. I mostly use it to get around the castle when I want to take a walk if I can't sleep."
She nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer.
They made sure not to speak as they walked the more populated halls of Hogwarts, taking care to give the groups of students a wide berth so as not to inadvertently brush them. They made it to the Room of Requirement without incident and found Ron and Hermione waiting for them.
Harry slipped out from under the cloak and walked over to where his friends were sitting next to two vacant chairs. He heard the barest sound of Fleur's shoes on the stone to indicate she had followed. He'd need to show her how to step carefully in order to make as little sound as possible.
"Hello," she said once she approached.
He suppressed a grin when he heard a rustle of fabric. She had probably waved.
"I'm glad you could make it," Hermione said towards the direction of Fleur's voice.
"I am glad I will be able to help. I am glad to finally meet you, Ron. I am sorry it cannot be under more…normal circumstances."
"Well, it's not your fault, is it?" he said with a slight grimace. "We'll figure something out. Especially if you're going to be around for a while."
"Thank you," she said before switching to a more lecturing tone. "'Arry has told me what you have been working on. I believe it would be best if I try to teach you what it means to understand a spell in such a way as to cast it non-verbally. I can currently cast two spells without speaking."
"Two?" Harry asked, turning to look at the empty air in surprise. "I thought it was just the bubble-head charm."
"I have learned another," she said, and he could hear the proud grin in her voice. "Fortunately, it is the very spell you are working on improving. I had been attempting to learn it last year, prior to the Third Task, but had been unable to master it before the end of the tournament. I cannot manage it every single time, but if I am not distracted, I am relatively consistent."
"Oh, wow," Hermione breathed. "I've been trying for ages, but haven't managed it even once."
"You have?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Of course I have. Though I think I'm starting to understand why it wasn't working."
"I am sure you are," Fleur said, "and you are likely correct. You must be extremely familiar with a spell before you attempt it, otherwise, you will be wasting time. Shall we get started?"
Harry was unsurprised to find Fleur a tough taskmistress. With her high standards came explanations that were far and away better than his own, and a touch less esoteric than Dumbledore's. He found he was pushing himself harder than normal and was near to panting when she called for a short break.
"Ron," she said, resurrecting a shattered dummy with a wave of her wand and a mumbled word. "Your focus is excellent which is making your spells powerful but you also need to be sure you are concentrating on feeling the spell. Try casting a little slower and with more focus on the spell itself, rather than the target."
Ron nodded in the general direction of Fleur's voice while sucking in deep breaths to try and even out his breathing.
"I'm glad you're here," Harry said quietly to where he thought he had heard her voice. "I never would have caught that."
"I am glad to help," she said from his other side, making him jump. "Sorry!" she said with a soft laugh. "Besides, being completely invisible is a little fun."
Harry smiled in understanding and rejoined Ron and Hermione in the practice, losing himself in the simple joy of working hard alongside his friends.
XxX
"She's quite good at teaching," Hermione said, staring off at where Ron was apparently speaking to thin air just out of earshot.
"She is," Harry agreed, watching as Ron gestured to himself. "She'll do much better than I would have."
"Don't sell yourself short, Harry," Hermione chided, frowning at him. "You were doing fine, she simply has more experience." Her gaze slid back to Ron. "I wonder what they're talking about."
Harry shrugged and shifted his weight to the other foot. Not long after, Ron moved to rejoin them.
"Are you ready, 'Arry?" Fleur asked from Ron's right, her voice a touch flustered.
"Whenever you are."
"Thank you for all your help, Fleur," Hermione said, waving towards the patch of air that had produced Fleur's voice. "I'm looking forward to next time!"
"As am I."
Ron followed Hermione from the room and shut the door behind them with a click. The moment the door shut, Fleur pulled the cloak off, her long hair clinging to the fabric.
"I am always happy to be warm, but that can get rather stuffy," she said, tugging her hair free. Her gaze wandered over to the door. "It was nice to finally meet Ron properly."
"I'm glad you could," he said with a slight smile. "It was nice. Even though we were working hard, I really enjoyed myself." He found that he was fidgeting in place and made a point to stand still, even if he couldn't force himself to look her directly in her astoundingly blue eyes. "For once, I didn't have to hide anything from anyone around me. It felt good."
The brilliant smile she leveled at him made him swallow thickly.
"I am happy for you," she said. "You have wonderful friends."
"I do."
XxX
"So, what on earth did you two talk about?" Hermione blurted out as she and Ron rode on a set of the moving stairs.
Ron grinned at her and she reddened. "I'm surprised it took you so long. I asked her what I could do so that she didn't have to keep hiding under an invisibility cloak the whole time."
"Well, I could have answered that."
"I know. But I thought maybe she might know some other way." He trailed off as the stairs thudded into place and stepped onto the landing to wait for the next set of stairs to arrive. "Plus I wanted to thank her in person…you know?"
Hermione nodded, her almost disastrous conversation with her new friend springing to life in her memory.
"I told her I wanted to get off on the right foot since I acted like an idiot the other times. And since she's so important to Harry, I figured we'd be seeing a lot of each other…well…you know what I mean."
"What'd she say to all that?"
"Er…nothing, actually," Ron replied, scratching at his nose as they climbed the newly arrived set of stairs. "She just said she had to leave."
Hermione didn't reply. She let the silence grow between them while she ruminated on her newest friend, and her oldest, all the way back to Gryffindor tower.
XxX
"What is your report?"
"I continue to try and ingratiate myself to my cousin. He is…distracted at the moment, and unreceptive. My earlier attempts were not completely rebuffed so I do not believe that avenue is lost to me. He seems to be struggling with his newfound freedom."
Voldemort sneered at the lack of progress, then gestured for her to continue.
"Barty reports much the same as before. Dumbledore continues to build evidence to force an overwhelming vote to go to war. He found the entrance to the Hall of Prophecy with ease but has yet been unable to get inside. The Unspeakables operate outside conventional Ministry power structure."
"We knew that would be the case," Voldemort pointed out. "If it comes to it, we can make a covert assault, but that is not my preference. The longer Barty is in place, the more destabilization he can cause before he is forced to leave. It will be difficult to cripple the Ministry's effectiveness for war, but I believe we may be able to use their vaunted bureaucracy against them when the time comes." He stared down at her for a moment before giving his order. "Continue with your plan, and instruct Barty to do the same. We will lose our advantage of their complacency soon, but it would be more disastrous to rush, and lose our opportunity at the prophecy."
"Yes, my Lord."