Lightning Strikes Twice (Harry Potter)(Time Travel)

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Harry makes a move and Fleur and her mother have a chat.

-x-X-x-

As her mother’s words regarding precisely what a Wizard’s Coven sink into Fleur’s mind, things over with Harry and the tournament organizers finally reach a fever pitch as the young man’s Headmaster tries to talk him down.

“Harry, I understand that you’re upset. But injuries caused by dragonfire are not so easily healed. Cedric knew the risks of all his options and made the choice he made. While I’m sure he will be very grateful for your assistance, his actions were his own, for better or worse.”

There’s a pause at that, and everyone seems to be watching as Harry mulls over Dumbledore’s admittedly very reasonable words. Fleur herself isn’t sure what she would have done in Cedric’s situation. On the one hand, if her beauty was marred by dragonfire in the same way his handsome looks had been, she probably would have wanted to flee the country and never be seen in public ever again.

… On the other hand, the Goblet of Fire wouldn’t have allowed that, at least not without the price of her magic. The contract was draconian like that. Still, maybe Harry was right. Maybe Cedric could have made a token effort. Probably not sticking his toe in, but swimming out to the middle of the lake and then back again the moment he felt fatigued?

But even then, Fleur isn’t sure she would have chosen that option. Her competitive side wouldn’t have allowed it, not really. And maybe Cedric was the exact same way… or had it even worse than her, who knew.

Either way, Harry doesn’t seem to have a comeback to Dumbledore’s words for a moment… before his jaw sets all of the sudden, and he gets this glint in his eye.

“Not so easily healed, huh?”

Everyone can only watch as Harry stomps over to where Cedric is laid out unconscious, being prepared for transport back to St. Mungo’s. Before anyone can stop him, the green-eyed wizard whips out his wand and points it at the official Hogwarts Champion.

“Episkey.”

There’s shuffling and murmuring at that, and a few small smiles from the crowd of onlookers. After all… Episkey is a minor healing charm at best, meant for minor injuries. Cuts, bruises, broken noses, split lips. That kind of thing.

It wasn’t the sort of spell that could heal the magical damage and scarring left behind by dragonfire of all things.

That said… not everyone is smiling. Some, like the Hogwarts Potions Master and the Durmstrang Headmaster, are scowling at their time being wasted. And others, such as Headmaster Dumbledore, are staring on intently, their faces studiously blank.

Fleur herself… doesn’t feel a lick of doubt in Harry’s abilities. There’s no incredulity, no derisiveness. Instead, she’s filled with this strange sort of reverent confidence… a certainty that if Harry Potter wants magic to succeed, it WILL succeed, always.

That’s why, she’s not even slightly surprised when it works. It just… works. The super-charged Episkey washes over Cedric, causing him to actually glow with power and those prepping him for transport to pull back with wide eyes. When the glow finally dies down, when the spell has finally done it’s work, Cedric Diggory is revealed… and looks completely untouched.

He's still unconscious, his eyes shut and his breathing slow. But his face is completely relaxed and blemish free. The scarring from the dragonfire is absent from his flesh, and Fleur has no doubt that the damage internally is also completely healed at this point.

Of course, not everyone is in agreement with her. Until the Mediwitch standing next to Harry and Cedric casts a diagnostic spell on the unconscious wizard and speaks the results out loud into the ensuing silence.

“He… he’s healed. Entirely healed.”@@novelbin@@

There’s a brief pause as everyone just stares in disbelief and shock. And then the loudest, most raucous cheering of Fleur’s life picks up in the stadium.

“HARRY! HARRY! HARRY!”

Fleur bites her lower lip as Harry, far from simply enjoying the adulation of his fans, looks to Dumbledore directly, a defiance in his eyes as he stands over Cedric’s unconscious body. It’s a good look on the young wizard. A very… dashing look. But she still can’t forget what her mother told her. About Harry being the center of a Wizard’s Coven. And truthfully, Fleur didn’t know what that meant for her.

-x-X-x-

The points for the Second Task end up being awarded rather hastily in Fleur’s opinion. She comes in first, even if she doesn’t feel like she deserves it. Yes, she made it back to the docks first, but still, Harry… well, he’d done what he’d done, hadn’t he?

Ultimately though, Harry is robbed of his first place finish by, once again, the Durmstrang Headmaster. While everyone else agrees to give Harry full marks for astounding acts of courage and bravery, Karkaroff goes the opposite direction, deeming Harry worthy of practically no points for ‘disrupting the competition’ and ‘flagrant disregard for authority’.

The end result was that Harry had tied with Krum again, this time for second place, while Cedric unfortunately had only gotten minimal points for ‘trying his best’ and ‘showing strong courage in the face of adversity’. But since he hadn’t actually managed to get his hostage or even himself back up to the surface, there was really only so much to be done.

The end result is that Fleur is actually in the lead by a hair’s breadth, while Harry and Krum are tied for second in the overall competition as well. But… honestly, Fleur doesn’t feel like a winner. And she definitely doesn’t feel like she deserves to be in First for the whole tournament. Not that it’s likely to matter in the end. Things are close enough that she has no doubt whatever the Third Task entails, Harry will knock it out of the park and win it all… if that’s what he wants.

A shiver runs down Fleur’s spine, even as her mother’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts.

“He really hasn’t made any overtures to you yet, Fleur?”

They’re alone now, ensconced in one of Hogwarts’ sets of guest quarters. Gabrielle has been left to her own devices, something that Fleur’s younger sister was so delighted by, she didn’t even question why. The reason is obvious… their mother needed to talk to Fleur in private, to grill her on everything that had happened between her and Harry since she arrived at Hogwarts.

Blushing, Fleur shakes her head and looks down at her hands.

“Any overtures have been mine, mama. In fact… at every turn, he has turned down my advances, or downplayed them in some way…”

Apolline’s eyes narrow at that, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Oh?”

Fleur’s blush intensifies and she nods.

“I… initially I was quite dismissive of Harry Potter. I thought he was just a boy, and I was aggravated that someone like him was allowed to cheat and enter the Triwizard Tournament when it was so obvious he didn’t belong. I allowed him to goad me into making an ill-advised bet ahead of the First Task. Whoever did the best would be able to demand something of the loser.”

She can feel her mother’s disappointed stare practically burning a hole in the side of her head, so Fleur doesn’t look up. Instead, she continues on.

“Afterwards… after he won, I feared what he would demand of me. But he didn’t do anything at first. In the end, I had to drag him off to make him tell me what he wanted. And ultimately… all he wanted was a kiss.”

Apolline’s incredulity is laced in her voice, even if Fleur isn’t looking her in the eye.

“… A kiss…”

Nodding, Fleur finally looks up again.

“It was the best kiss I’ve ever had, mama. It tasted of his magic, of his power… and it left me tingling for days afterwards.”

Eyes widening, Apolline’s breath hitches.

“He’s capable of projecting his magic in such a focused and concentrated way? That’s… that should be beyond someone of his age, Wizard’s Coven or no.”

Fleur nods, her blush only growing hotter on her face and neck.

“Yes. And then on the night of the Yule Ball… I made a move, thinking I might be able to tame him and his date. I inserted myself into their sexual encounter… and was promptly smacked down. Harry had every opportunity to bind me then and there if he wanted, mama. I wouldn’t have put up any resistance either… I DIDN’T put up any resistance. But instead… he did not even deflower me. He took his date for the evening and had me watch.”

Bringing a hand to her abdomen, where even now she feels Harry’s seed still resting in her gut, giving her power, Fleur whimpers.

“I imbibed his semen though that night. It was delicious, but more than that… it conveyed his power to me. He made me stronger, and so when the Second Task arrived… I asked him to allow me to do so again, knowing I would be going underwater. I told him he could have anything he wanted from me, hoping he would demand my virginity in trade, but even then… even today, he told me he would ask for nothing in return.”

Looking at her mother imploringly, Fleur is almost whining as she beseeches the older woman.

“Surely… surely he would have been more aggressive if he wanted to bind me, right mama? Would he really be so generous and so selfless, passing up opportunity after opportunity if he wanted to make me part of his Wizard’s Coven?”

“Yes.”

Apolline’s decisive, no-nonsense tone cuts through Fleur’s hope like a knife. Her mother doesn’t mince words.

“He has you on a hook, my dear darling daughter. He has had you on a hook since that kiss after the First Task. This young man is wise beyond his years, unnaturally so. Just because he has not yet reeled you in does not mean he’s never going to. And in truth… it sounds like you’ve been reeling yourself in just fine. How much longer would you have lasted, if I had not been here to warn you of his true nature? How much longer would it have been before you offered yourself up on a silver platter?”

Fleur bites her lower lip at that, knowing full well that her mother is right, especially about that last part. If not for the Delacour Matriarch’s knowledge, Fleur probably would have gotten more and more desperate for Harry, until she finally just threw herself at his feet and begged or demanded for him to ravish her already.

From there, she likely would have done anything he told her to, including being talked into binding her magic to him, possibly. And yet… even with Apolline’s warnings, Fleur wasn’t entirely convinced she needed to stay away from Harry.

“… Would it really be so bad, mama? To become a part of his Coven?”

Apolline freezes, looking at Fleur with wide eyes.

“Fleur!”

But Fleur refuses to be deterred.

“I do not disbelieve you, mama. Harry Potter has a Witch’s Coven. According to you, he has already bound as many as six witches to him. But… does that necessarily make him evil? You said the ritual had to be willing, after all.”

That causes her mother to hesitate.

“… It does, yes…”

Fleur leaps on that answer.

“And today… we both saw his heroics today. Saving Cedric and his hostage along with his own was one thing… one might call that a publicity stunt. But then he revealed his power to everyone in order to heal one of his competitors. Surely that has to count for something! Surely that shows the strength of his character, mama!”

Maybe she’s grasping at straws. Even Fleur can hear the desperation in her voice. Still, her mother doesn’t immediately smack her down. Perhaps Apolline sees how much Fleur wants this. Or perhaps she’s actually being persuaded by Fleur’s words.

“… It is true that so far he has shown no sign of great evil or abuse. But at the same time Fleur, joining a Wizard’s Coven is a permanent affair. You do not just get to change your mind later on. The Wizard at the center of the Coven owns your magic forevermore. The only way out… is death.”

Fleur swallows nervously and has to wet her dry lips, but before she can respond, her mother continues.

“I might be willing to accept that this Harry Potter is a good man now. Good men are vanishingly hard to find these days, so if this were a normal courtship you wished to pursue, I would be a lot happier giving it my blessing, Fleur. But… can you safe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harry Potter will continue to be a good man for the rest of his life? People change. And time makes fools of us all. In ten years, or twenty years, if he becomes a monster in human form, you will have no recourse. You will be stuck in a Hell of your own choosing, along with the other women he has bound to him.”

Her mother’s words wash over her like waves crashing against the shore, slowly eroding her confidence. Apolline has a point, after all. Harry seems like a good, honorable man now. And he might even be what he seems. But will he always be what he seems?

“… There has not been a Wizard’s Coven since Merlin himself, daughter of mine. Our veela ancestor was a member, and though the blood has thinned considerably, we can trace our lineage back to him as a result… and so can many others across the entirety of the Wizarding World. And yet, there is a reason that Merlin kept his Wizard’s Coven a secret, and a reason he destroyed all knowledge of how to create one when he finally passed from this world. Power can corrupt even the purest of intentions and the kindest of hearts.”

Fleur slowly breathes out. Everything her mother has said so far is perfectly logical. It makes a lot of sense too. And yet… the heart wants what the heart wants.

“You are still considering pursuing him, aren’t you?”

Fleur flinches at the accusation, her mother’s tone sounding quite… resigned.

“I… yes mama.”

She wouldn’t lie to her. Not that she could have successfully lied to her mother even if she wanted to.

For a long moment, silence reigns between the two of them. Fleur fidgets as she waits for her mother’s inevitable condemnation. It doesn’t seem likely that anything else will come out of Apolline Delacour’s mouth at this point…

[ ] She reluctantly disowns Fleur in order to protect Gabrielle from her decision - 5%