A.N.- Sorry for being absent for so long. I had so many AP Exams to study for, even as a High School Senior, Calc BC, Stats, Chemistry and Physics C. Barely had any time to do anything else than study. My sincere apologies, I will try to update HP and the Veela soon.

I know a lot of you still don't like the high level of power Harry has; well he's going to appear to be mediocre soon. I think in the original canon, there has to be more powerful wizards and witches throughout the world, not just Voldemort, Dumbledore, and Grindelwald. I think Rowling left out that there are maybe more wizards and witches with similar power statures in the same time. I mean, isn't magic suppose to be something that is limitless. Just a thought for all the readers, it would be really sad if Voldemort were the strongest wizard alive in Harry's era.

Chapter 9: The Test and The Second Task

"I must ask, Zathras, what is the purpose of sending me to test a mere seventeen year old boy." A tall figure clad entirely in black asked emotionlessly.

"It's a waste of time and especially when our plan is in its most crucial stage."

"Are you questioning my authority, Alex?" Zathras replied in a quiet, warning tone without turning around from his throne like chair. The man, Alex, looked to be in his mid-twenties with a slim, dancer like figure, blackish blue hair and a pair of grayish blue eyes that narrowed slightly.

"I shall do as you ask and test the boy's abilities but it does not take a seer to predict the eventual outcome." With that Alex turned around and disappeared into the darkness. Zathras simply stared at the dossier that was in his grasp, the name Harry James Potter was at the top.

"What will you do, Harry…when you face foe that is as strong if not stronger than you? Do you truly have what it takes to persevere?" With that, the man placed the file down and picked up the glass of bourbon that was resting on the right armrest of his chair and took a long sip.

Meanwhile, in the planet room in the Department of Mysteries, Alex was surveying Jupiter when a voice broke the deathly silence, "I've heard of your new assignment, this would certainly make things interesting around here no?" A man in his early twenties with very round glasses, curly reddish blonde hair and sharp, mischievous amber eyes pronounced as he stepped calmly next to Alex.

"How's the operation going Enzo?"

"Good enough, everything is almost set in place…." Enzo replied while lightly tugging the lapel of his coat. "I heard that this initiate is unlike any other…must be big if the boss personally assigned you to this."

"No matter what is I assigned, I'll do it. I will be back soon after I defeat the boy." Alex said coldly, walking away from his fellow Unspeakable.

Alone in the planet room, a smile appeared on Enzo's face as he said in a knowing tone, he actually felt sorry for the potential recruit "Of course…"

Thousands and thousands of miles away, at Hogwarts, Harry could hardly believe his eyes, walking down from the stairs was a slightly nervous Eleanor. Harry thought it was impossible for his best friend to look even more gorgeous than she already was but all the evidence was right in front of him.

She was wearing a pale gold colored strapless long ball gown, which matched her deep blonde hair perfectly, as well as accentuating her wondrous curves and dancer like body. Her hair had been done elegantly into a bun that revealed a pair of sapphire earrings. She had almost no makeup on at all, yet she looked breathtaking.

"Hi." Eleanor said shyly as she reached Harry, inwardly thinking how handsome he was dressed in such simple clothes.

"Hey…" Harry replied, still staring at his date. "You look…well, um, fantastic."

"Thanks. You too." She said looking down demurely when she noticed that Harry was still staring at her.

Harry sighed inwardly, "Here we go…" He offered his arm. "Mil lady…"

Eleanor took his arm with a dazzling smile as Professor McGonagall began to have the champions and their dates line up. McGonagall smiled as she laid her eyes on Harry and Eleanor, Harry merely avoided his Transfiguration teacher's smile while Eleanor returned it with one of her own.

They were behind Krum and a girl in blue robes as they entered the hall amidst the numerous applauses and cheering from the rest of the student population. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling.

The house tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Nothing changed in the top table, it was still a row for all the professors and Ministry officials.

Just slightly below them were four small tables with a candle in the middle of the table and two chairs at each end facing each other. Harry could only smirk as he saw the Viktor Krum fan club looking infuriated and enviously at the Bulgarian's date.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, he was glad that Harry seemed to have calmed down from their slight altercation in their most recent meeting as the Ravenclaw Champion nodded at him with acknowledgement. Harry seated Eleanor in a gentlemanly fashion before sitting down himself across from her.

"I actually prefer sitting like this to sitting with the professors, who would want to sit with them?" Eleanor asked out loud while picking up her menu. To her surprise, Harry let out a rare laugh.

"They'll probably bore us to death, talking about how great their schools are." He replied.

Dumbledore then demonstrated on how food was to appear as he looked carefully down his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!" And Pork chops, and a side of potatoes and salad appeared on his golden plate.

Harry had opted for a lightly grilled Chicken breast in olive oil while Eleanor had chosen a pan-fried Salmon steak. Throughout dinner, Harry and Eleanor focused solely on each other, talking about things that had happened during their childhood with each other. Eleanor giggled at Harry's annoyed expression as she reminded of the time when she had surprised and pulled him into the pool behind Potter Manor.

"You got lucky that time…I thought you were still changing." Harry replied.

"Oh?" Eleanor challenged. "We'll see over summer if you still fall to the same trick."

"You're on."

Eleanor then directed at her glance to where Fleur and her date, a dream slackened Roger Davies were sitting. She looked okay, in Harry's opinion; the most beautiful girl was currently sitting across from him, narrowing her eyebrows as she observed the Beauxbatons Champion.

"I know she doesn't have a good date but does she really have to bitch like that to everything?" Eleanor said as she sipped her glass of water. She smiled when she heard something like an"Hmmph" from Harry.

"How is it that you're the only guy in this castle that doesn't go drooling on his own clothes whenever she walks by?" Eleanor asked playfully and giggled behind her hands as Harry simply raised an eyebrow at her and tapped the side of his head. "That's because they're all hollow inside." Harry replied sarcastically, and smiled when he saw Eleanor giggle. He always liked the sound of his best friend laughing and giggling, it was filled with such happiness.

He was astounded to finally recognize the identity of Krum's date. It was Hermione Granger, one of his brother's closest friends. Neville Longbottom had invited a fourth year Hufflepuff, Hannah Abbott as his date.

"So have you heard of my brother's famous courtship for your sister's hand?" Harry said with a teasing smile on his face.

"Of course I have, I've never seen Blaise smile so much before, true Gryffindor chivalry unlike his brother." Eleanor teased back, making Harry scowl.

Meanwhile, Fleur sighed miserably as she watched the exchange between Eleanor and Harry. True, she might not have known Harry for a long time but she still felt drawn towards him, the silver blonde haired young woman did not know what to do. Aside from the fact that he was the only man in the entire castle that was not reduced to a drooling slob whenever she walked by, Harry was the one of the very few people that listened to whatever she had to say.

She noticed Harry's date taking a look at her and shaking her head with slight disapproval at her rather impolite remarks. Harry took one glance at her before focusing on his attention on his date, his expression was unreadable but quickly turned into a brief sympathetic smile, and she instantly regretted saying all those things and looked away. It was suppose to be a great evening but instead, Fleur found herself staring at a very dazed Roger Davies in an almost miserable atmosphere. With unhidden resignation, she rose from her chair when she saw the Headmaster of Hogwarts doing the same, motioning everyone else in the hall to follow his example.

With a raise of his wand, the tables were all pushed to the sides of the hall as a raised platform was elevated with a whole array of instruments on it. Suddenly, the Weird Sisters, a popular magical band entered the Great Hall amidst thunderous applause and took to the stage. Fleur watched with sadness as Harry led his date on the dance floor and started a graceful waltz. A small part of her wished that it could be her on his arm.

"What are you giggling about?" Harry inquired with a raised eyebrow as he spun Eleanor.

His dance partner smiled and said, "I was just thinking of the time when I saw you dancing with Aunt Lily during one of the ministry balls when we were younger."

"Don't remind me…I still have nightmares about that."

"Oh my, did ice, cold, uncaring Mr. Potter just made a remark that isn't serious?" Eleanor feinted a surprised expression on her face. She yelped when Harry pulled her close, his lips almost brushing against hers but not close enough for a kiss.

"Gotcha…" He whispered and smirked when he saw Eleanor blush bright red.

"You'll pay for that." She growled.

"Oh, I'm soooo scared…challenge accepted." Harry replied as they waltzed. Through the night, Harry and Eleanor stuck together, never dancing with anyone else. Of course, no one would be stupid enough to ask Eleanor for one dance for fearing that their bodies might be found in the bottom of the Black Lake with boulders tied around them.

"I'm flattered you want me to only dance with you but can't you at least let me say no instead of you making unnecessary threats?" Eleanor asked amusingly as Harry twirled her.

"But that's exactly the point…they won't heed my warning otherwise. And I seem to excel at aggressive negotiations, don't you think it's a waste of my talents if I did so otherwise?" Eleanor rolled her eyes her partner was just incorrigible.

"Ryan, is your brother smiling?" Blaise Zabini inquired with a wide-eyed expression at the dancing pair as her date returned with drinks.

"Huh yeah…why is it so surprising?" Ryan asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, I think smiling suits him better than that poker face he always wears." Ryan looked at his older brother, he looked happy. "You deserve it bro." He whispered before turning to Blaise, thinking how pretty she looked in her current turquoise blue dress.

"Mil lady, may I have this dance?" He asked with a bow.

"Of course, good sir." Blaise replied with a grin on her face as she allowed Ryan to lead her back onto the dance floor.

On another part of the dance floor, Fleur was at the end of her patience. Her date wasn't a terrible dancer but his dazed, unfocused expression at her still disgusted her to no end. Roger wasn't the only one who was drooling stupidly; the males around her were all affected by her allure, which caused the quarter Veela to feel even more irritated and angry.

She excused herself after a couple of dances, and opted to calm down in the gardens. Edging around the dance floor and slipping out into the Entrance Hall, the front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as she went down the front steps, where they she found herself surrounded by bushes, winding ornamental paths, and large stone statues.

Fleur could hear splashing water from fountains, she saw couples sitting on various benches. Taking a seat on an empty bench, Fleur felt all the irritation and her frustration dissipating. She took off her silver dancing shoes, casted a warming charm on herself, drew her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly and gazed at the clear night sky and the numerous glittering, diamond like stars scattered all over it. Fleur could not think of anything more beautiful than the starlit night above her as she loss track of time gazing. Slowly but definitely, tears began to pour down her eyes, like repressed rain finally able to come down.

Harry was escorting Eleanor out into the Entrance Hall but stopped suddenly as he stared into the direction, which led to the gardens. He felt terrible that Fleur had slipped away before he could honor his promise to her.

"Is she still there?" He wondered to himself.

"Harry?" Harry's snapped from his thoughts and faced Eleanor, who looked baffled.

"What's wrong?"

"I…." Harry found himself truly unable to speak for the first time, how was he suppose to say that he had promised another girl a dance in front of his date.

"This is a completely new scenario to me but I promised a friend that I would give her a dance, I'm sorry that I didn't mention before." Harry said quickly and closed his eyes, expecting a ferocious tongue-lashing.

Instead, he heard sounds of giggling instead, slowly opening his eyes, he found Eleanor trying to stifle her giggling behind her hand.

"Oh Harry, you're overcomplicating things."

"Wait…you're not upset?"

"No, why would I?"

"I don't know, women is one of few things I have yet to grasp a full understanding of."

Eleanor rolled her eyes and let Harry's hand go, "I'm afraid that's one thing you'll never understand, no offense…just go, I'll be fine."

"You…you sure about this?"

"Merlin, Harry…if you stay here another second, I'm going to kick your arse all the way to the moon, you never make a promise to a girl and then give her cold turkey."

"Fine, fine…" Harry muttered before kissing Eleanor on the cheek and dashing towards the direction to the gardens, leaving a stunned blonde haired girl touching the area Harry just kissed. Eleanor stared at Harry's retreating form and smiled before heading back to Ravenclaw Tower alone. Her wish had partially come true, for Harry to be more open with people around him.

Lightly jogging, Harry searched the rose gardens for Fleur, a part of him was afraid that she had already went to bed.

"There's no one here, should make it easier." He thought as he scanned the area for any signs of silver blonde hair. After a while, he found the quarter Veela on a bench, hugging her knees. Not knowing what to say, Harry sat down on the wooden bench next to Fleur who immediately snapped her head up and her slightly moist eyes met his.

"What are you doing 'ere? Aren't you suppose to be wiz your date?" Fleur asked, a bit snappier than she had wanted. To her surprise, Harry didn't respond to her biting tone and instead pulled a silver silk handkerchief from inside his suit jacket pocket and began dabbing her eyes. It was but a simple action but Fleur felt her heartbeat rising and herself blushing slightly from Harry's administrations.

For Harry, comforting girls was one thing that he had to endure pretty much his entire life, which was the drawback of having a little, clingy sister.

"I'm here because of a promise I made to a friend." Harry simply said as he stood up from the bench and offered a hand to Fleur, who just looked at him with surprise.

"It may be a little late but may I have this dance?"

"Why are you doing this Harry? Why are you being so kind to me?" Fleur thought to herself as she slipped her shoes back on and took Harry's hand.

" 'Arry?"

"Yes Fleur?"

"We don't 'ave any music…"

"Oh, sorry… Accio guitar." Moments later, Harry's acoustic guitar safeguarded by its case came flying down towards them. Setting the case down, Harry flicked his wand and the case was unlocked, opening to reveal the musical instrument within.

Fleur watched as Harry gave his wand another flick and the guitar rose from its case and began strumming a moderately fast paced Spanish tune. As they tangoed, Fleur felt her loneliness, sadness and all her negative emotions washing away, replacing them were feelings of happiness and joy.

To make things ever better, Harry was a fairly accomplished dancer and she was pleased to see that he could keep up with her. In addition, he didn't looked dazed at all in contrast with Roger Davies, his smile was one of caring not lust and never once did his eyes leave hers.

"Looks like we have company." Harry murmured as he spun Fleur. Fireflies by the tens were now having their own dances near the pair, the tune was now slower and Fleur had pressed herself as close as she could to Harry, which he was a bit uncomfortable with but decided to let it slide.

Fleur just sighed as she listened to Harry's steady heartbeat. What started out as a 'bad' night was now quickly becoming one of the best she ever had.

She looked up and blue eyes met green, "And it's all because of you." Fleur thought.

Through the night, they alternated between different dancing styles; Harry didn't really care about the curfew, a scrawny old man like Filch certainly didn't scare him in the slightest. He never stopped dancing, after seeing Fleur being so miserable, he wanted to do something to help her. Therefore he would be willing to dance the entire night if he had to, though the rational part of his mind was protesting vehemently.

That was when he heard a growling noise and smiled when he saw Fleur looking down and blushing.

"You up for a bite?" Harry asked, to which he only got a shy nod at. Harry waved his wand and the guitar stopped strumming and very neatly placed it self back into its case, the lid popping over it and an audible click could be heard. Then the case floated towards Harry's outstretched hand and surprising himself and Fleur, he gently took her hand and they headed back inside the castle together.

"Where are we going?" Fleur inquired as she tried her best not to enjoy the feeling of her hand in Harry's too much.

"Just trust me." Harry replied as he led her down the stairs and towards the bottom of the Great Hall. Fleur simply observed as Harry stopped in front of a large portrait of a giant bowl of fruit. She raised an amused eyebrow when she saw Harry wiggling his finger against the giant pear but her eyes soon widened when the pear extended out and became a doorknob.

"Right, ladies first?" Harry said with a smirk, which Fleur replied. A strange, slightly unpleasant feeling wormed itself into Fleur's heart when Harry let her hand go, but she shrugged it off as she walked through the now open portrait. What met her was an enormous, high ceiling room, as large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stonewalls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end.

"Hogwarts Kitchen." Harry said and began walking towards a table, "You coming, Fleur?"

Fleur snapped out of her reverie and followed suit. As soon as she sat down, a female house-elf seemingly appeared out of nowhere and was hugging Harry's leg.

"Mr. Harry has come to the kitchens, Mr. Harry has late night again?"

"Afraid so, Tippy. Would it trouble you if you could bring some lighter dishes and two bottles of butterbeer for me and my guest here." Tippy nodded furiously and scuttled off. Harry narrowed his eyes when he heard Fleur laughing all of a sudden.

"What's so funny?" He inquired.

"It iz nozing, I would 'ave never zought Harry Potter as one for breaking ze rules." Fleur replied.

"Well…nobody's perfect." Harry retorted.

"You come 'ere often?" The quarter Veela quizzed her fellow champion.

"Sometimes…yeah." Fleur smiled as she saw Tippy return with a large tray with a variety of different French food.

"Zank you Tippy." She said, causing a face-splitting smile to appear on the elf's face.

"Miss is too kind…" With a bow, the elf left the pair to their privacy.

" 'ow did you meet this 'ouse-elf?" Fleur asked out of curiosity.

Harry blinked, not really expecting this question. "We met six years ago, when I was still a first year…my father had informed me of the kitchens so I decided to take a look. I was almost caught by Filch when I was leaving but Tippy somehow found me before he did and helped me escape back to Ravenclaw Tower with her magic."

To his annoyance, Fleur began laughing. "I'm zorry, but after seeing your display of magic, eet iz 'ard to picture you needing help from someone else."

Harry's eyes hardened as he tore his gaze from Fleur's. " 'arry?...I'm zorry if I 'ave offended you in any way."

"It's fine, Fleur." He replied, offering a smile to show his sincerity.

The tense atmosphere between them was gone as Harry watched with a smirk as Fleur ate.

"What are you smiling about?" Fleur asked when she looked up from her plate of greens.

"Don't starve yourself again, Fleur…It's not a good thing to do." Harry muttered.

"I won't 'arry, zank you for caring zo much."

"Friends look out for each other." Fleur winced a bit at the word friend, something that had gone unnoticed to Harry.

" 'ave you deciphered the clue from ze egg yet?"

"No, not yet all it does is hurt my ears."

"Mine too…" They shared a smile and went back to their meal.

" 'Arry?" Harry stilled his fork as he looked up to see Fleur's conflicted look.

"What is it?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Why do you not fall to my allure?" Of all the things Harry thought she would ask, she had to ask this one. He placed his fork back on his golden plate and thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any clues to that question. I have some theories though." Seeing Fleur's puzzled look, he elaborated. "Well, not many people know but the Imperius curse doesn't work on me." He couldn't help but smirk as he saw Fleur's eyes widening. "I have no real evidence but I suppose the Veela charm works in the same way." Harry theorized while sipping his bottle of butterbeer.

There was a moment of silence before Harry said quietly, "Don't be ashamed of who you are. Those who do should be the ones feeling shameful." Fleur only smiled at Harry's subtle encouragement, she rarely had somebody genuine to talk to when she was away from home save Claire.

"Zanks, 'Arry…" Harry nodded as he went back to his food. Throughout the rest of dinner, the pair talked about their favorite subjects, hobbies, music preferences. As they finished, Fleur watched as Harry said his goodbyes to Tippy, it was heartwarming to see the little elf was chastising Harry to go to bed earlier instead of staying up.

"Zank you for such a wonderful evening…'Arry." Fleur said shyly as they stopped in front of the Beauxbatons carriage, she had protested that she could return to the carriage alone but Harry insisted just in case.

"The honor was mine…Fleur." Harry said causing the beautiful girl before him to smile demurely. Fleur didn't know what caused this sudden wave of shyness, she was definitely not like this when Harry wasn't around.

"I'll see you tomorrow then?" Fleur nodded with an amused grin, Harry was terrible at ending awkward silences but she found it to be adorable too.

"And good luck on the second task…"

"You too."

"Good night, Fleur."

"Bonne Nuit 'Arry…" With that, Fleur watched as Harry slowly walked back towards the castle alone until his tall frame was gone from sight.

As he disappeared, a wave of sadness and loneliness loomed over her again. Carefully opening the door to her room, Fleur smiled lightly when she saw her roommate and friend, Claire already asleep. She changed quickly into her nightclothes in the bathroom before carefully putting her dress back into her trunk. She almost laughed when she saw Claire shifting when she used a mild lighting charm while putting her dress back in place. Then she fell to her bed, covering herself with thick blankets, her last thoughts before falling asleep were those of her and a certain green-eyed wizard dancing together under the moonlight with the fireflies doing a dance of their own around them.

Meanwhile, far up in Ravenclaw Tower, Harry was turning to side to side, attempting to sleep. He was really puzzled and irritated at himself, he had shared things about himself with Fleur that he didn't normally share with his friends. Even Eleanor didn't know about his more than frequent visits to the Kitchens after bedtime. He thought about using his three-way mirror to contact his father and Sirius but the idea was discarded as it was late and he doubted either of them was still up at this hour of time.

Turning sideways on his four-poster bed, he allowed himself to fall into the vast realms of Morpheus. However as time progressed, even as Harry slept, a bad-sinking feeling found its way to his stomach and it prevented him to get the rest that he needed. That feeling remained as he opened his eyes the next morning and changed into his silver tracksuit.

"Strange…why do I have a sense that something's off today?" Harry pondered as he left the tower. The gut-sinking feeling only got worse as Harry started his routine run around the lake. As he made it halfway around the lake he heard it, a barely audible sound of a hex that was speeding towards him from behind. He rolled sideways, evading the sickly magenta curse that no doubt would have struck his back.

Wand in hand, Harry's eyes darted from side to side, trying to determine the direction in which the curse was shot from. He'd barely been able to cast up a shield charm as he saw another jet of magenta speeding towards him. The force behind the curse was stronger than any Harry had faced before as he managed to repel it.

"Nonverbal casting…" He thought and his grip on his wand tightened when he saw a tall hooded figure appearing from the moving clump of shadows and facing him. A grayish black aura instantly flared and pulsed around the stranger as he began a furious onslaught against Harry, who was immediately forced onto a defensive stance. Both of them were casting nonverbally, though it was obvious to Harry that his mysterious opponent had much more experience with it.

It was one of the most, if not most brutal fight he had ever experience as Harry deflected, dodged and shielded himself from the ceaseless advance of his attacker, their wands were merely blurs. He had never felt this pressured, even when he was training with Moody. Harry deflected another magenta curse from the stranger and leap back. The black clad figure, to Harry's horror, sent five consecutive stunners from his wand towards him.

"That's impossible." Harry thought as he deflected one, shielded himself from two and somersaulted his way out of the last two.

"Depulso." Harry gritted his teeth as his opposition threw up a full body, cackling blue shield that prevented himself from being knocked backwards.

"Gladius Incendio Evocatio." Three swords of fire shot out from the unicorn wand and flew straight at the hooded figure, who with a wave of his wand halted the flaming swords and redirected them towards Harry. He gritted his teeth as he waved his wand and a silver sphere erected from light made the swords bounce off harmlessly.

"Who are you, what do you want?" Harry shouted as he kept his eyes on his adversary. The hooded man remain silent and suddenly burst forward towards the Hogwarts champion with a terrorizing fast pace, Harry snarled before silver light covered his entire body and flew out towards the lake with his attacker, covered in a dark fog, hot on his heels.

Harry cringed as he dodged a sickly yellow curse, it would have definitely liquefied his organs if the hex had contacted his body, the technique that he and his attacker were using were a type of teleportation. Dumbledore had personally taught him that technique, stating that it was a good and useful skill when enemies have erected anti-teleportation wards. The drawback was that it was straining for any wizard's magical core if used too long.

The two wizards continued to throw hexes against each other in the sky and masterfully dodging, shielding and deflecting them. Harry was in awe, he had his mind sealed off but yet his opponent was able to predict and successfully counter his every move.

As Harry continued the onslaught, the fear in his heart was growing bigger every second. "I can't sense him…it's as if he isn't there physically." He was also surprised at the hooded man's adaptability, from fighting on the ground to the air.

"Fulmine." Blue lightning sprung from the tip of his wand only to be met with a red bolt of lighting. Harry was trying his best to stable the wand in his grip as it shook violently, sending spasms up his arm. The effort in maintaining the spell and keeping himself from falling was too great on the black haired youth as he felt his magical reserves dwindling, for the first time, Harry Potter felt impending dread.

"How is this possible? He doesn't appear to be tired." He thought as narrowly dodged another hex.

"Congelo." A beam of silver light erupted from the tip of his wand the same time a burst of flames erupted from the end of his opponent's wand, "Aguamenti." Harry quickly countered as the flames easily overwhelmed his beam of ice. He was thrown back for just a moment and that was all that was needed as his adversary shot another bolt of cackling red lightening towards him.

Before he could react, Harry could see a red bolt of lightning flying towards him, there was no way he could dodge it this time. It was coming at him too quickly, wordlessly, he erected a shield but to his horror, the red bolt of lightning passed his shield and suddenly he found it difficult to breathe. His head was beginning to feel light as a sudden, intense pain erupted from his torso.

"Why does it feel like the sky is getting farther?" He thought before everything became black. Alex watched on with indifference as Harry Potter plummeted towards the Earth, He gave his wand an upward flick.

"Descendio Tardus." He watched as the spell went into effect and prevented the boy from falling into pieces into the earth. Wordlessly, he descended back onto the ground, parts of his body fading into clumps of black fog.

Walking slowly to the unconscious teen, Alex pointed his wand at Harry and whispered, "Enervate."

Harry felt immense pain erupting from his ribs as the darkness was replaced by light, he groaned with discomfort as he rolled on his back. He looked back and dizzily saw a pair of black boots walking coming closer, in no form to fight back, Harry laid on the grass waiting for the worst to come. When it didn't, he opened his eyes warily and saw that the person he had been fighting had pulled his hood back.

What surprised him was that he was staring into the unsympathetic grayish blue eyes that belonged to a tall man that could not have older than twenty-five with blackish blue hair that was parted on the right side. Minutes could have passed, or was it hours as nothing but the chirping of birds, the soft noise of water in the lake swirling and the gentle breeze filled the air.

"You've lost, Harry James Potter." The man said tersely before turning around and walking away slowly.

"Wait!" Harry shouted and cringed when pain erupted from his lungs. The man stopped in his tracks but did not turn around. "Who are you? How do you know my name?" Another pause entered between them, the man, it was as if the unknown duelist took pleasure from seeing his beaten opponent on the floor.

"…..You seek to protect those you love…but can you?" The man responded before dissolving into dark fog and disappearing into the darkness. He didn't know how much time he spent on his back on the patch of clearing before painfully picking himself up, summoning his wand back into his hand and began his slow journey back to the castle.

Long story short, Madam Pomfrey went ballistic when she saw him staggering into the hospital wing holding his side. The matron queried the teen about what happened but didn't get much response from him other than an off distance hard look. Harry didn't respond when he heard that three of his ribs were cracked and his left leg was slightly fractured as well. All he could think of right now was the brutal duel he had lost not long ago.

It was hard to accept, he had rarely lost to anyone he fought and being floored this heavily was certainly a first. He had given his all in that duel but his opponent was barely sweating while he himself felt as if all energy was drained from his body. The only upside was that Eleanor was here with him, sitting on a chair near the side of his bed.

"Who did this to you?" The blonde asked softly while caressing Harry's cheek.

"I don't know… but he was so much stronger than me." To her disappointment and sadness, he turned his face away from her hand, she didn't know how comfort him save holding onto his wand and whispering words of encouragement.

"I'll beat him next time." Harry swore to himself, he had tasted defeat once and once was enough. Dumbledore and his head of house, Filius Flitwick came by the Hospital Wing shortly, much to Harry's disdain, he wasn't looking forward to explain his current situation.

"Harry, I've heard from Madam Pomfrey that you have refused to explain the details regarding to your injuries. Might I ask why?" Dumbledore inquired.

Staring defiantly into the ancient headmaster's eyes Harry responded, "It's none of her concern, as it is with you headmaster."

"Harry, an attack on a student is no small matter… I understand…being defeated is never one likes to taste." Harry looked over to Eleanor who squeezed his hand affectionately; one look at her face was all the answer Harry needed. He took a deep breath before recounting the entire duel, leaving nothing out.

"That does not resemble anyone I know." Dumbledore said pensively.

"Me either, but it is strange." Flitwick squeaked, "It could not have been an auror, since they could not have displayed the abilities you have just said and neither could it have been Death Eaters as they have been off the grid for some time now."

"So it can only mean one thing." Harry thought. "Professor, could it have been an Unspeakable?"

Flitwick nearly lost his balance as he was pacing around, Dumbledore also looked as if something had frozen him in place.

"An Unspeakable?...Who knows with them? They have been secluding themselves politically for nearly ten years. And the Department of Mysteries has been sealed off after the last Head exchange. But then again, they have ears and eyes everywhere in every corner of the world."

"How are they grouped?" Eleanor asked her Head of House.

Flitwick scratched his head before squeaking a reply, "That is unknown to anybody save themselves, there is a reason they are named Unspeakables, though to my knowledge if I were to hazard a guess, there are three factions: Political, Military, Research. All are above the law. That is why they have such an immense contact network, for studying and researching new and odd discoveries that might have a large impact on the wizard world."

"How do you know all that Professor?" Eleanor asked, frowning, her head of house had said that he was speculating but it didn't sound like a mere speculation.

"That…is another story for another time, I'm afraid." Flitwick squeaked and walked away after bidding Harry to get better soon.

"I must retire too, thank you for this information Harry." Dumbledore bade the two of them good day and also walked out of the Hospital Wing. The headmaster was deep in thought as he retired to his office, in addition to Neville informing him that his scar hurt, it seemed that the Unspeakables have shown interest in Harry Potter. He'd know that Harry had wanted to seek them out, hoping to join them. Filius was correct in that they haven't shown any trace of existing for some time now, but if they have somehow shown themselves again, then it meant that Zathras would too very soon. He knew all too well of what Zathras was like, he saw all purebloods as cancer on wizard society and all sympathizers of Voldemort and Grindelwald should be annihilated. And now, he was even more unpredictable since gaining full control of the Unspeakable order.

"I see you've returned…" Alex remained emotionless as Zathras spoke to him without turning around.

"I did what you have asked…it was hardly a duel."

"Yet you did not make it easy for him…"

"Easy is an attitude that I will never use against anyone I face, though I must admit…he has the potential…"

"Perhaps this defeat will give him the necessary inspiration…"

"You still haven't told me why this boy is important…he is powerful, for his age but why him?"

"You said it yourself, he's powerful for a boy so young, imagine the possibilities when his true power manifests. He could become an excellent asset to our cause. Aren't you the slightest bit curious?" Zathras said in a tone that signaled that the discussion was over and calmly sipped his shot of whisky.

"What is my next assignment?"

"Nothing right now…"

"You expect me to just do nothing?" Alex growled.

"Most people would be most gratified for a reprieve, not you… but I guess if you did, you won't be carrying the number one title…" Alex turned around and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Zathras alone in the large, spacious, empty room. The Unspeakable leader merely mysteriously smiled as he stared at the holographic image of the planet Earth in front of him. "We'll see each other soon…Harry."

Over the next few days, Harry had received many visitors; Cedric, Cho, his brother and Eleanor were constantly with him. He had sternly ordered his brother not to tell his parents of his current state, knowing his mother would probably barge in and make things difficult to explain for him. Soon Harry's injuries were almost non-existent and went on about his every day-to-day schedule much to Madam Pomfrey's concern. She did prohibit him from participating in any strenuous activities, which was the reason for why Harry had spent all of his free time in the library with his golden egg.

He was looking at books, which he hoped that will help him get closer to deciphering the ear shattering golden egg. Taking a break, he delved into his inner robe pocket and pulled out a get-well card that oddly had no name of the sender. However he could tell the sender was female due to the handwriting and that it had a rosy scent on it. Truth be told, he had received a substantiate amount of get well cards, most of it from his fellow female peers much to Eleanor's dislike.

He enjoyed teasing her about it, and received a kick to his injured leg for it, though she was apologetic afterwards. Calling it a night, he placed the books he had back onto their respective shelves and left the library with his golden egg in his grasp. On his way back to Ravenclaw Tower, an idea hit him straight on. "The three common elements are earth, air, and….water."

Rushing back to his common room, and dormitory, ignoring everyone and everything, he fished out his swimming trunks and ran back out of his common room. He reached the fourth floor and standing near the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, he located the right door, leant close to it and muttered the password, "Pine-fresh."

The door creaked open. Harry slipped inside, bolted the door behind and looked around. Though he was a prefect himself, he had never used the bathroom before, the showers in the dormitory was way more efficient. A splendid candle-filled chandelier softly lighted the bathroom, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edges, each with a different-colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid, who was awake on a rock, smiling and winking at him while running her hands through her long hair.

He then stripped and changed into his swimming trunks, turned on the water taps and waited, pacing back and forth while staring at his golden egg. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam and bubbles, Harry turned off the taps and jumped into the pool, splashing water in every direction. Staring back at the unmoving golden egg, Harry decided to test his theory, grabbing the egg with his soppy, wet hands and placing it beneath the water, he shut his eyes as he opened it and to his surprise, it did not wail.

A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words he could not distinguish through the water. Knowing what he had to do, he took a deep breath and slid under the surface. The gurgling song was now clear to him as he listened to a chorus of eerie voices singing to him from the open egg in his hands:

'Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching, ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took, But past an hour – the prospect's black

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

Harry let himself float back upwards and broke the bubbly surface, shaking his hair out of his eyes and reached for his towel to wipe the water off from his face. When he was done, he placed the towel down and he was shocked to see Fleur standing on the white marble floor above him. He was at a total loss for words, she was wearing nothing save a white bikini inside her bathrobe which left little to imagination.

"Um…Good Evening, Fleur. I see your purpose is similar to mine no?" Harry said nodding to the golden egg in her grasp, breaking the tension between them.

Fleur offered a smile but inwardly smirked at Harry's flushed look when she took her bathrobe off and entered the pool, purposely choosing a spot close to him.

In the beginning, she had thought that Harry wasn't attracted to her in the slightest which she felt was unique and new but as their friendship sprouted and grew, that changed. However, the way he looked at her was different than those of other men and boys who only had lust in their eyes, which she found herself liking and craved for. That and as she scanned his body, she liked what she saw, Harry was lean and muscular, not too much but enough to be noticeable.

"I'm, going to dry myself off, the pool's yours." Harry said, smiling that smile she loved so much. She couldn't help but pout as he climbed from the pool, she wondered what it would be like to run her hand over his chest and abs.

"Fleur, what are you thinking? You have a task to do, concentrate." Her mind shrieked at her.

Mimicking Harry's actions, she opened the egg under the water and submerged herself into the warm water. Once she got the song memorized, the quarter Veela returned to the water's surface and smiled her thanks as Harry passed her a fluffy towel. Once she was dried off, she joined Harry and sat next to him on the pool's edge.

"How did you gain access to this bathroom? Doesn't your carriage have their own bathrooms?" Harry asked.

"Zey only 'ave showers, and I might 'ave coaxed the password from a prefect. It wasn't 'ard. I would 'ave asked a female prefect but zey all refused my request." Fleur replied and giggled at Harry's amused expression.

"I'm sure. I was wondering why you didn't use the girl's bathroom." Harry became puzzled when he saw Fleur turn her head away.

"What's wrong, Fleur?"

"I'm zo, zo zorry 'Arry…"

"What for?" Harry asked.

"For not visiting you… you were always wiz so many people…" Fleur explained feebly.

"It's alright Fleur…you made it up by giving me that card…" Fleur instantly snapped her head towards Harry.

" 'ow did you?" "Your handwriting and your…" Fleur felt her entire body freeze when she felt Harry leaning dangerously close to her face. "scent tipped me off." He replied with another smile.

In that moment, she wanted to kiss him, to be able to taste those pink lips but restrained herself because she knew he didn't have any feelings for her. Ever since Harry and her had shared that magical dance in the Hogwart's Gardens, and him deliberately sharing one of his secrets, taking her to the kitchens, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She longed to see him everyday, to see his smile that has always managed to brighten her day and relieve her of her troubles. But it had hurt a lot to know that Harry wasn't interested in her, though she would never asked him about it but she got the feeling that he only danced with her because he wanted to keep his promise, nothing more.

The two of them talked more at the edge of the pool before gathering their respective golden egg and leaving the bathroom. Fleur felt dejected as she saw Harry walking off after escorting her to the Entrance Hall. She had initially said it was not necessary but inwardly her heart leapt with joy but now he had left, those feelings subsided.

Day of the Second Task

Harry stretched out his limbs as he prepared himself mentally while looking at the pitch-dark, murky Black Lake that seemed to have no depth.

"I hope I won't run into the Giant Squid." He thought. He was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and black swimming trunks, a wand holster secured on his left calf.

"You alright Harry." Cedric asked from beside him as he took Harry's robes from him.

"I'm good." Was the response that came from the Ravenclaw. Bagman then rounded all the champions together, Fleur, Harry noticed had decided to let her hair flow down naturally instead of holding it together in a usual bun. Her full body swimsuit fitted her snugly in all the right places.

"Everyone ready?" Bagman asked in a high pitched voice, no champion responded, prompting Bagman to continue, "Yes, for this task, a single person of great value to each of you has been placed in the bottom of the Black Lake, you have one hour to retrieve them."

All of the champions and Bagman were disturbed from their talk when Neville Longbottom finally arrived, to Madame Maxine and Karkaroff's displeasure. Bagman then gave Neville the same instructions given to the other three champions alone.

"You don't look so well Fleur, are you okay?" Harry asked, and immediately cursed himself for being so sentimental. The beautiful quarter Veela looked downtrodden and almost afraid?

" 'Arry, they 'ave taken Gabrielle…" It took a moment for Harry to comprehend who Fleur was talking about.

"Your sister right?" Fleur nodded. "And I'm guessing that in the water, you're out of your element." Another nod from the Quarter Veela responded his question. Hesitantly, Harry placed a hand on her bare shoulder, sending shivers down Fleur's spine.

"You'll get her back. You're not alone in this. Believe in your abilities." Fleur looked up and blue eyes met green.

"Merci, 'Arry." The moment was gone as Bagman's magnified voice boomed out, "Sonorus." Everything became silent.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. N the count of three, then." Harry positioned himself between Fleur and Krum.

"One…" Bagman shouted.

"Addo Aeris." Harry said in a barely audible tone.

"Two…...Three!" A cannon shot was heard and the stands erupted with cheers and applause as the three champions dove in.

To his surprise and relief, Harry found himself breathing under water as bubbles came out of his mouth. The spell he had used was a simple one, filtering out the water through his noise and transferring it into oxygen he could breathe into. Calmly, he began to propel through the water.

Fleur shivered while trying get pass the thick forest of rippling tangled black weed. A bubble around her mouth and nose was the only thing that kept her from drowning. The quarter Veela felt truly scared the first time, with her natural fire abilities useless in this environment.

However, she carried on swimming, "Gabrielle is waiting for me. I will not let anything happen to her." Fleur thought and determination flowed through her, strengthening her resolve for the task.

She was almost through the murky weed forest but suddenly something attached itself around her lower left leg and was starting to pull her down to the depths. Fleur struggled but whatever ambushed her was too strong.

"Is this the end?" Fleur pondered with despair. Just as she thought her life would be over, the strong force that was holding on to her leg was gone and replacing it was a force that was pulling her back up. She looked up and she saw herself staring into familiar green eyes.

In all her life, Fleur would have never see herself as a damsel in distress yet here she was, saved by a charming handsome hero. She mouthed her thanks, to which Harry replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Fleur expected him to leave her here and was surprised when he touched her arm and beckoned her to follow him.

"Why are you doing this Harry?" She pondered as she swam alongside of him. They swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. He was passing murkily as they disturbed the water. Then, at long last, Fleur heard a snatch of haunting mer-song. It prompted her to swim faster, and soon she saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water. It had paintings of mermaids on it; they were carrying spears, and chasing what looked like a giant squid. She inwardly shivered, Veela and Mermaids despised each other since both species could remember.

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. And from them, she saw faces, they were simply too ethereal to be normal. The mermaids all had creamy skins and long, silky, flowing blonde, red or brown hair. Most of them had blue or brown eyes. True to their name, all of them had large full breasts and a fish tail starting going down from their upper body.

They leered at Fleur and Harry as they swam past, shooting looks of immense dislike and disgust at Fleur while giving Harry curious and infatuated ones. Fleur was surprised at Harry's tenacity at completing his task, he barely even spared a look at the mermaids.

"Any other man would be tempted…" She thought as they swam on. Soon they arrived at what seemed to be the Mermaid's village square, a whole crowd of mermaids were singing, behind them rose a statue; a gigantic mermaid hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone mermaid.

The two champions nodded towards each other before shooting towards their respective hostages. Eleanor was tied between Hermione Granger and Hannah Abbott. She seemed to be in a very deep sleep, her head was lolling onto her shoulder and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from her mouth.

Harry was relieved to find a pulse and after distancing himself a bit from the sleeping Eleanor, raised his wand and thought in his mind, "Sectumsempra!"

The powerful, dark, cutting spell severed the ropes of weed as if it were butter. After repeating the spell three more times on Eleanor's other bound limbs, Harry wrapped her arms around the unconscious girl and began his ascension to the surface.

The added weight proved to be a supplementary difficulty in what would have been an easy ascension but Harry continued, nevertheless, if there was one thing he learned about women, it was to shut up whenever the topic of weight was brought into a conversation.

He was snapped from his thoughts when he felt a disturbance in the water, he looked down and to his horror, a large pack of Grindylows were waiting for them behind their coral hideouts and were ferociously assaulting Fleur and her little sister.

He could see Fleur doing her best to protect her sister but there was simply too many, soon she became separated from her hostage as the small but savage underwater predators continued to attack her.

Harry aimed his wand at Eleanor and thought, "Ascendio!" He did the same with Fleur's sister and immediately dove downwards back to the murky depths.

Fleur was lashing out in every direction as Grindylows swarmed at her, "I'm so sorry, Gabrielle, that I couldn't protect you." She lamented when her bubblehead charm dissipated, she struggled as her vision grew darker and dizziness began to kick in. She saw the numerous, moving dark shapes before her all stilled and another figure coming towards her, a figure that was swimming for her.

Harry felt immense anger when he saw Fleur being attacked, pointing his wand at the Grindylows he mentally cried "Immobulus!" The immobilizing charm worked as the underwater predators all entered a frozen state. Darting through the nasty creatures, Harry secured an arm around Fleur, knowing something had to be done and fast, attached his lips to hers.

Fleur's haziness slowly disappeared when she felt something warm on her lips and oxygen flowing through her lungs again. Bit by bit she regained consciousness, her heart was caught in her mouth when she saw a familiar pair of large green emerald eyes with immense concern in them, Fleur mentally berated herself for putting Harry at risk again just to save her again. She then lazily wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and kicked at the water with her own legs, to minimize the work Harry had to do all by himself.

Harry, now realizing that Fleur had regained consciousness looked relieved, but his lips remained glued to hers. Soon they broke the surface, the cold, clear air was making their faces sting; Fleur reluctantly detached her lips from Harry's but not fast enough as they were drowned by the cheering, catcalling and wolf howling from the crowds.

Fleur scanned the crowd as she and Harry swam to the shore and located her sister next an elderly matron, the little Veela was tightly bundled up in thick blankets and dimpled cutely at her, she was all right and Fleur could finally let out her breath of relief that she had been holding onto since the start of the task.

"'Arry…" The young man in question turned his head back found himself staring at a tearing Fleur Delacour. "Zank you…"

"It was nothing, lets go to shore, your sister's waiting." Harry replied and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

"Oui…" They made it to shore where Madam Pomfrey immediately seized them both and wrapped them both in thick blankets, Harry felt that he was in a straitjacket. He was then forced to down a hot potion, which made steam gush out of his ears. Harry smiled when he saw Gabrielle hugging her big sister tightly, jabbering in rapid French while Madam Pomfrey applied a paste of some sort to the cuts on her legs and arms. Fleur smiled back tiredly when their eyes met again.

Harry found himself a seat on a patch of clearing away from the crowd and was surprised when he was pulled into a suffocating embrace, the fiery red hair indicated a tongue-lashing was inevitable.

"Thank Merlin you're okay, I was so worried when Eleanor surfaced without you…what happened?" Lily Potter gushed out as she hugged her first born with all her strength.

"Love you too, Mum." Harry replied and earned himself a swat to the head, then he explained how Fleur was being attacked by Grindylows and that he decided to go back for her after making sure his hostage as well as Fleur's surfaced.

"I'm proud of you son," James Potter said as he squeezed his wife's arm and ruffled Harry's wet hair. "Not a lot of people would have done what you have done. Many people would have opted to leave her and to get first place."

Harry immediately stood up from his seat and said, "It was the right thing to do Dad, I just couldn't leave her like that."

He was confused when James smiled widely. "That's our boy, Lils." He said to Lily, who gave her husband a watery smile.

"I'm alright mum." Harry said while hugging his mother, patting her soothingly on the back. He was a little miffed when she gave him a peck on the cheek, but said nothing regarding to it.

"You want something to drink, dear?" Lily asked.

"A bit of pumpkin juice would be nice." Harry replied and watched as his parents walked off.

"Are you going to be okay?" A small voice asked him.

"I'll be fine Rose." Harry said as his little sister wrapped her small arms around his waist. The small redhead smiled cutely at him and began firing all sorts of questions at her older brother about the lake.

"Yes Rose, the mermaids were very pretty." Harry smiled as Rose squealed and demanded that he tell her more about them.

"I thought the Giant Squid had devoured you or something, by the way, you and Delacour…there'll be loads of rumors flying around after your little PDA." Ryan Potter said with a grin as he gave his older brother a high-five.

Rose grew frighten when her brother mentioned a squid and fearfully hid behind Harry when Ryan lied that the Squid will always devour some unlucky first year children when they first cross the lake. Harry merely shot his little brother an annoyed glare.

"'Arry?" Harry turned around and saw Fleur standing behind him, Ryan immediately stopped telling tales about the Giant Squid to his sister and eyed the two of them warily. Rose, well, merely looked at Fleur with wide green eyes.

"How're you coping? The Grindylows were pretty ferocious." Harry asked concernedly.

"I'm fine, just mainly cuts, nozing serious. I would like to zank you again for saving me and my sister…" Fleur started.

"It's okay Fleur…you don't have to thank me. I did what anyone would have done in my position."

"Most people would… 'ow do you say eet, turn a blind eye?"

"Well, consider me unlike most people then." Harry smiled at her, which she replied with a dazzling one of her own.

"Gabrielle, say 'ello. You're being rude." Fleur said and to Harry's amusement, a whine could be heard from behind Fleur as a small girl stepped out from her hiding place behind her sister.

Gabrielle was almost an exact replica of Fleur only smaller, she couldn't have looked older than ten and had the same silver blonde hair her older sister had and the same blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you Gabrielle, I'm Harry. Are you okay?" The small Veela merely nodded with her eyes on the ground, pink tinges appearing on her cheeks.

"She iz very shy." Fleur explained with a grin.

Harry couldn't suppress a tired smile when he saw Rose approach the small Veela and asked, "Hi, my name's Rose, what's yours? You wanna be friends?" The outward, cheerful redhead asked excitedly. Gabrielle nodded with enthusiasm and the two small girls began to chatter in a speed that Harry thought would be impossible.

Then he saw his parents chatting with a man and woman who he presumed to be Fleur's parents as he saw a large smile formed on his fellow champion's lips.

"Maman, Papa!" Fleur shouted happily as she ran into her parents' embrace, which was mirrored by her little sister a moment later. Tears slowly flowed from Fleur's eyes as her parents and sister embraced her, family meant everything to her and her time at Hogwarts was painful to bear at times.

"Your father and I are so proud of you, my flower." Apolline Delacour whispered in her daughter's ear.

Fleur extracted herself from her mother's grasp and after a moment said, "I had help…I wouldn't have finished, without him." Apolline glanced at who was having her daughter's attention and smiled.

"Well then, shall we go say hello Alain?" Apolline asked her husband with a mischievous smile. Alain simply nodded, returning a smile at his wife.

"So, mermaids huh?" James asked his son in a teasing tone, Rosy and Ryan had gone off to grab something to eat.

"Dad, you do realize mum is standing next to you right?" Harry replied with a smirk and added, "Hot, but fishtails aren't really my kind of thing."

Lily merely rolled her eyes at her husband and son's antics.

"'Arry?" Harry turned his head and stared deeply into the eyes of the voice's owner.

"I want you to meet my parents." Fleur said, Harry's eyes darted to the man and woman behind her. It was clear where Fleur had inherited her beauty from; her mother had the same silver blonde hair, blue eyes, fair complexion and the enviable body figure. Fleur's father was a tall man, with sharp calculating blue eyes and a head full of brown hair that was starting to grey at the temple, he had an analytical expression plastered on his face, as if he was observing him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Delacour." Harry said as he shook both of Fleur's parents and looked them in the eyes when did so. He could tell Fleur's mother was shocked that he was able to ignore the Veela Allure altogether. Mr. Delacour finally dropped his analytical expression and a smile appeared on his face, he was testing whether the things his daughter gushed about this young man were valid or not.

Harry then introduced his parents to Fleur and her parents. Both Apolline and Fleur were again surprised that all Potter men were immune to the Veela Allures. Apolline actually let out a melodious laugh when Lily informed her that the reason her husband had no reaction to the Veela charm was that his head was filled with rocks.

"Ze pleasure is ours, Monsieur Potter. We owe you ze lives of our daughters. Fleur 'as told us everyzing zat 'as 'appened in ze lake." Apolline said.

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you m'am. Fleur has performed wondrously so far, her determination in the lake was the reason she completed this task. I only helped her a tiny bit." Harry said sincerely.

Fleur blushed mildly when she heard his praise, he'd certainly made her more impressive than she actually was.

"And might I ask what iz your intention wiz my daughter?" Apolline asked with an impish smile.

"Maman!" Fleur shrieked with embarrassment. Much to her chagrin, her parents and Harry's parents smiled knowingly at the two young adults.

"Fleur's been a really tough competitor for me as well as a very good friend." Harry said.

Fleur felt as if her heart was being constricted as soon as she heard the word friend, was that all they were, after everything, just friends?

Apolline saw the brief, hurt look that appeared on her daughter's face, "Oh Fleur…"She thought.

Together, they walked back to where Dumbledore and the other judges were standing, Krum and Neville had both finished apparently. Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, after much discussion and consideration, we have reached our decision. We have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows…Miss Fleur Delacour demonstrated the Bubble-Head Charm with great skill and retrieved her hostage well within time limit. We award her fifty points."

As applause rain upon the Beauxbatons Champion, there was no sign of a smile that graced her lips. Why? It was all because of the person that helped her gain those points. She did however applause immensely when Harry's marks were announced; he remained first, which wasn't surprising to her.

"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty fourth of June." Bagman boomed. "The champions will be notified of what is coming, precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."

As the large body of students disembarked back to the castle, Apolline pulled her eldest daughter off to a side after giving her husband and Gabby a nod.

"What is it maman?" Fleur asked tiredly.

"You like him." It was not a question Fleur's mother had just shot out. Veela were, after all, empathetic beings.

"Okay Maman! I admit, I like him a lot. He is the only man that I have these feelings for. 'Arry listens to me and actually takes time to know me." Fleur was near tears, her shoulders shaking as her mother engulfed her in a gentle hug.

Apolline smiled as Fleur recounted the encounters and talks she had with Harry and sighed as her daughter told her how he went to find her after her disastrous Yule Ball and made up his promise and more. Fleur might not be able to see it but Apolline certainly did, there was more than simple infatuation between her daughter and Harry.

"Fleur dear, just because Harry says you're his friend doesn't mean that he has no feelings for you." Fleur sniffed at her mother's words.

"What do you mean?" Fleur asked. "You're going to have to figure that one yourself…and according to his mother, he is not currently with anyone." Apolline said with a wink, which Fleur knew too well.

Then they walked in the direction towards the Beauxbatons Carriage and Fleur felt the sadness that was weighing her down lessening already.