Chapter 2

The reception so far has been pretty good, so I decided to write a new chapter :D Please enjoy :D (warning, this one will be shorter, it's my writing style. I hope you understand.)

Harry slowly opened his eyes. That was the first decent night sleep he had since Ginny died. It was too bad he had a slight headache. He shouldn't have drunk that much firewhiskey, it always led to rash decisions. He tried to roll over, but something was obstructing him. It was Gabrielle. The previous day's events came flooding back to him, and he jumped out of bed, like a crazy flea. Gabrielle rolled over and smiled at him.

"Good morning!" She said brightly.

"Why the hell are you in my bed Gabrielle?" Harry asked, maybe a little too harshly.

Gabrielle looked hurt. "You let me. You said it was bad to sleep alone after a traumatic experience."

"I shouldn't have said that, I had too much firewhiskey, and it's disrespectful to Ginny..." he trailed off as tears filled his eyes. "Ginny!" he moaned, as he collapsed into depressed sobs.

Gabrielle was shocked to say the least. She had never seen someone this depressed. She wrapped her arms around him, using her Veela magic to try and soothe him. His sobs stopped and he looked at her.

"Thanks. I needed that. Still, I should be the one who's strong and supportive, not the other way around. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Gabrielle then did something surprising. She slapped him!

"You have your priorities wrong mister! Do you really think Ginny would want to see you like this? Would she want to see you abandoning everyone you know, and getting depressed and drunk?"

Harry felt like a child being scolded by his mother as he slowly shook his head. "She would call me a baby and tell me to move on." He said, with a watery chuckle. Then he looked at Garbrielle.

"You just lost your parents though. Why aren't you going crazy with grief?" He asked.

"I am part Veela, we project happy emotions on to others. It's easy to keep my own in check, and once they are, my sensible side takes over. I'm being told by my head that my parents would hate to see me cry and grieve. They would want me to move on, be happy, and find a good man." She blushed at the last part. Thankfully for her, Harry was feeling quite dense. "People call us insensitive, as we never spend long grieving past the original shock of the event. Sure, I'm devastated, but if I let it get to me, I will die."

Harry admired her bravery. Ginny had been dead for over a month, and he hadn't gotten over her at all, yet here was Gabrielle, putting on a brave face, just the morning after her parents were slaughtered. It made him take a long hard look at himself, and what Ginny would think if she saw him like this. Gabrielle was a huge wake up call, and he was immensely grateful. He suddenly pulled her into a hug, which she gasped at, but then sighed contendedly.

"What was that for?" She said.

"Being the best, and making me see how rubbish I've been acting." Harry chuckled.

She giggled as they broke apart.

"I have a day off today." Harry said. "Do you think I should visit my friends?"

"That might be a good idea, it will help you get over the feelings easier." Gabrielle replied.

"I've locked the floo in this house to everyone except the Auror department, and the house is under some of the best wards I could muster. They must be really worried about me. I'll go to Ron and Hermione's first." Harry said. "Do you want to come with me? If not, Kreacher will look after you."

Gabrielle seemed to ponder for a moment and shrugged. "Ok, I wouldn't want to be in such an odd house by myself."

Harry laughed. "Even though it's clean now, I still get the creeps in some rooms in this house. At least I finally got rid of that damn painting."

Harry and Ginny had had enough of Mrs. Black's screaming and moaning the previous year, so they hit her with a blasting curse. That ended her.

Harry walked over to the fireplace, and picked up his pot of Floo Powder. He took a pinch, dropped it in and then stuck his head through the fireplace. He emerged a few moments later looking pleased.

"I just had a word with the floo department, the house now has connections with the Burrow, Ron and Hermione's house, The Leaky Cauldron, and the Three Broomsticks. It sure beats Apparating anyway." He took another pinch of powder, and offered Gabrielle his arm.

"Ron and Hermione's House!" Harry said clearly, as he stepped into the fire with Gabrielle and vanished.

Hermione rubbed her pregnant belly and sighed. She was worried about Harry. Ginny's death had hit everyone hard, but she was especially concerned with Harry's reaction. She hadn't even seen him in a month. Harry hadn't been this depressed since Sirius died. She just hoped he was OK.

Suddenly the floo roared. Hermione grinned. It was probably Ron checking up on her. Ever since she fell pregnant, he had been checking up on her at least five times a day, even though pregnancies lasted nine months and she had only been pregnant three weeks. She slowly got up and padded over to the living room. She really did look like the stereotypical pregnant mother, with a loose shirt, rolled up jeans and bare feet.

"Ron, I told you I'm..." Hermione broke off as she saw who was standing in front of her. It was Harry, and he looked positively awful. He was unshaven, his clothes looked quite dirty, and his hair was even messier than it was usual. Hermione could have sworn she also saw smudges on his glasses. He was accompanied by a beautiful blonde woman, who looked quite scared.

"Hello Hermione." Harry said nervously.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed as she launched herself into his arms. "We've been so worried about you, and you haven't contacted us or anything! You complete prat!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've been moping around the house for the last month. It hasn't been good for me." Harry said.

Hermione looked pointedly at Gabrielle. "And who's this?" She said, with a hint of suspicion.

"Oh, yes, this is Fleur's sister Gabrielle. I was sent on a mission last night to stop a Death Eater attack in France, but I was too late. Gabrielle's parents were killed, and since she can't live anywhere where Death Eaters have attacked or access any of her assets, I invited her to live with me for a while."

Hermione looked shocked and pulled Gabrielle into a hug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know, I thought you were a girlfriend or something!" she said.

Gabrielle blushed. "It's nothing, really."

Hermione thought for a moment and gasped. "Does Fleur know yet?" She asked.

Harry blanched. "I completely forgot about Fleur. Hang on a sec." and he disapparated. Hermione led Gabrielle into a seat, and they waited in comfortable silence. Five minutes later, Harry apparated back. He turned to Hermione.

"Can we use your floo?" He asked.

Hermione nodded, and Harry led Gabrielle to the fireplace.

"You should be able to Floo to Fleur's from here. Have some time with your sister, and come back when your ready, OK?" He said.

Gabrielle nodded, before kissing his cheek, and disappearing into the fireplace. Harry was left with Hermione.

"You going to tell Ron I'm here?" He asked. Hermione's eyes widened, and without another word, she walked over to the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder and stuck her head through it. Two minutes later, she emerged.

"Ron will be in here in a sec." she said.

Almost as soon as she finished her sentence, the fire roared green and Ron stepped through, looking excited. He took a look around the room and spotted Harry.

"Alright mate?" Harry said awkwardly.

Ron stepped forward a bit, then punched him. Harry reeled, clutching his face.

"That's for being a prick and not contacting us!" He said, then grinned.

Harry stood up, massaging his cheek.

"It's alright, it's exactly what I deserved," he said, and they hugged.

"So what finally brought you out of that hole then?" Ron said.

"Gabrielle Delacour." Harry said. When Ron looked confused, he elaborated.

"I was sent on an emergency Auror mission yesterday to deal with some Death Eaters in France. I got there too late, and Monsieur and Madame Delacour were murdered. I managed to save Gabrielle and she's living with me, due to that damn law set up about Death Eater attacks. Lets say she put me back on track, and I realised how stupid I've being, and how upset Ginny would be if she saw me like this."

Ron averted his eyes when he mentioned Ginny. Harry could tell he was dealing with her death admirably, but it still shook him.

"Well, anyway, I'm glad your back from the land of the dead. Once I'm finished with work, do you want to come over for dinner? You can bring Gabrielle with you if you like."

Harry nodded. "She's with her sister at the moment, so I don't know how long she will be. I just need to clean up, I look like crap."

Ron and Hermione both nodded in agreement, and Harry laughed and headed towards the fireplace. "I'll see you soon then" he said.

"You had better." Ron growled, and Harry headed back to Grimmauld Place with a rare smile on his face.

Gabrielle stepped out of the floo, into a surprisingly small and grimy flat. Out came Fleur, who was holding a baby.

"Gabrielle!" she gasped. She carefully put down the baby, and embraced her little sister. Gabrielle hugged her sister back, with tears coming down her face in fear of telling her sister the bad news.

"What are you doing here?" Fleur said, in French.

"Was there anything in the Daily Prophet today about a Death Eater attack in France?" Gabrielle asked quietly.

"Yes, but there wasnt any specifics, only that English Aurors had to help. Why, what happened?" Fleur said, already catching on to what the conversation was leading to.

"The Death Eaters attacked our Chateau" Gabrielle said.

"Oh my, what happened, where are Maman and Papa?" Fleur said shakily.

"They're gone" Gabrielle said, and the two burst into tears and held each other for comfort. After 15 minutes of good honest sobbing, they broke apart.

"How did you escape?" Fleur asked.

"Harry Potter is an Auror, he was called to help us. He saved my life."

"Again? But that means..." Fleur broke off.

"Yes, he's now my mate." Gabrielle said quietly.

Harry felt great after a long shower, a shave and putting on some clean clothes. He cleaned his glasses, and he put away the bottles of Firewhiskey. He would become stronger. For Ginny's sake as much as his own.

As he was walking downstairs, he heard the fireplace roar, and Gabrielle emerged, looking crestfallen.

"How did it go?" Harry said gently.

"We got some crying done. Fleur is devastated, but Bill is comforting her. I needed to be with her for at least a bit though. She supports me living with you by the way."

Harry smiled at her. "Ron and Hermione have asked both of us to dinner? You want to come?" he asked.

Gabrielle's eyes lightened a bit. "Of course! I shall get changed, I wont be long." She then went upstairs looking happier. Harry grinned at her, and sat down in front of the fireplace. He had barely lived with the girl 24 hours, and she already turned him around. A crashing from the stairs, alerted Harry and he dashed towards the stairs, seeing Gabrielle lying in a heap, missing a shoe. He fought back an urge to laugh.

"That's what happens when girls wear heels. More trouble than they're worth." Harry laughed.

Groggily, Gabrielle sat up, but when she tried to stand, she felt a gasp of pain. Harry suspected a sprained ankle. He rolled his eyes, took her foot gently in his hand, and pointed his wand at her ankle, muttering a healing spell he learnt during his auror training. He then slowly rubbed her arches and her toes to bring feeling back into her foot.

"Wow, that feels great." Gabrielle said sighing. "Where did you learn this?"

"I took first aid training when I became an Auror. I'm not a Healer, but they say I'm pretty good."

"You got that right." Gabrielle agreed.

Harry stood up, and took her shoe from the stairs and placed it back onto her foot. She then took his hand, and stood up, testing her weight, before declaring herself OK. Harry then led her into the living room, where the fireplace was, and holding Gabrielle's arm, disappeared into the green flames.

They arrived in the living room, where Hermione and Ron were already waiting expectantly.

"You're late." Hermione huffed. "What kept you?"

"I sprained my ankle on the stairs. Harry had to fix me up."

Hermione laughed. "I remembered he had to do that to me once, it was just after he completed his Auror training, and we decided to go out celebrating. I fell down the stairs, and Harry patched me up. Feels great doesn't it?"

Gabrielle giggled lightly. "I felt like a pampered lady."

Harry blushed slightly. "Just doing my job."

Ron pitched in. "You're off duty."

"Would you rather we missed dinner for a trip to St. Mungos?" Harry shot back.

Ron fell silent. Gabrielle broke the silence.

"So, when's dinner ready?" She asked.

"It's ready, that's why Ron's in such a bad mood." Hermione laughed. Harry and Gabrielle laughed back and they all settled down at the table. They all caught up with each other, laughed and joked, and Harry felt himself having a truly decent time for the first time in ages. Since he was an Auror, he was trained to spot tiny details, and he noticed Hermione's portion was smaller than everyone elses, and she was only eating salad.

"Something wrong with your appetite Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Oh, we forgot to tell you! I'm pregnant!" She seemed ready to burst with the news.

Harry was overjoyed. "Congratulations! Who's godfather?" he asked, already half expecting the answer.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other. "Well...we were thinking Neville." Ron said.

Harry's face fell a little bit before they both laughed. "Of course you're godfather you dimwit!" Ron shouted, and Harry laughed, hardly believing he fell for such a simple trick.

Soon, after relaxing on the sofa with a bottle of wine, Harry and Gabrielle announced they had to leave. Harry embraced his best friends.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you the last month guys." Harry said emotionally as he hugged Hermione.

"Honestly, it's fine, just don't do it again!" Hermione said, and Ron nodded in agreement. Hermione and Ron then gather Gabrielle into quick hugs.

"Look after him won't you?" Hermione said.

Gabrielle giggled. "I'll keep him in check." and Harry rolled his eyes as he took Gabrielle's arm and they flooed back to Grimmauld Place. Immediately, Gabrielle kicked off her shoes and rubbed her heels.

"I thought you liked those types of shoe." Harry said.

"I have to wear them thanks to my social standing" Gabrielle said sadly. "It gets annoying after a while."

"Are you OK sleeping in your room tonight, or do you want to sleep in mine again?" Harry asked.

Gabrielle blushed slightly. "Actually...I slept really well last night, so I was wondering if I could share your bed again." she said shyly.

Harry laughed. "You don't even need to ask. I slept really well too."

Gabrielle hugged Harry, and kissed him on the cheek and they went upstairs together. Harry stripped to his boxers while Gabrielle changed into a nightgown in the bathroom. They climbed into bed together and spooned against each other.

"Goodnight Gabrielle." Harry said.

"Goodnight Harry." Gabrielle replied before quickly falling asleep.

Aww, I quite enjoyed writing that. Did you enjoy reading it though? Send any queries to my PM inbox, and please review. It means the world to me, and I always listen to my fan's opinions. See ya :D