"You there, halt, " one of the indigenous peoples living in the lake demanded of the human who had strolled into their domain as if he owned it.
The child merely laughed back, sending shivers of fear and uncertainty through those nearby, "Oh I think not, you see it appears you have the sibling belonging to a friend of mine and she is quite distraught over the loss. I would like her returned please."
A crudely made spear was pointed at him in response, "I think not human. Your kind made a deal with us, any that remained after the time was up stays here."
The emerald-green eyes, that at first seemed to shine so very brightly, dimmed into pools of blackness as the teen's demeanor darkened with them. "I don't think you quite understand the situation. I am doing you quite the favor by peacefully retrieving miss Delacour rather than slaughtering you like the animals you so see fit to act like. Such a gift should not be squandered…"
"Y-you impudent…"
The creature's retort was interrupted by a gargling sound, as its hands went around its own throat in panic. The other Merpeople watched on in horror as it began suffocating. "Quite an odd sensation isn't it? You are so used to living underwater that you have never experienced the feeling of drowning before have you? Let me put my request in a different manner, if you do not bring the child here in the next two minutes then the Unspeakables are going to have quite the exciting time examining the rest of you in order to determine how an entire race of amphibious being drowned in their own lake…"
...
"Excuse me, Fleur, I believe I have something of yours." a voice called out, interrupting the French Witch's misery and sobbing. Looking up she saw that her lover had just walked out from the lake, all the while carrying her sister in his arms.
"GABBIE!"
The few reporters, and school staff, that had crowded around the French family had been batted aside as the Witch sprinted towards the pair. Moments later her parents joined her as the boy-who-lived handed the younger girl off to her older sister, before returning to his classmates.
"Fleur…"
The sobbing Champion wiped her eyes, before leaning closer to hear her sister's whispers.
"I… think I'm in love…" she finished, her eyes locked on the retreating form of her rescuer, much to the older girl's shock.
...
"Harry."
The boy turned to see both Luna and Ginny standing at the entrance to his room.
"Yes?"
"We wanted to thank you for… well for what you did during the task. Saving that girl was…" Ginny paused, trying to think of how to explain what she meant. If it had been one of her brothers, except maybe Ron, that had been trapped.
"Yep! And according to Hermione the three of us still haven't shagged yet so…" the blonde immediately began pulling at her robes, before becoming entangled in them once more.
Ginny fought down the blush at her friends' brash comment, before laughing at her apparent defeat by clothing.
"Oh no, it appears our dear Luna is stuck… perhaps we should take advantage of the situation. What do you think Ginny?"
More and more the youngest Weasley was beginning to think of herself as less 'straight' and more 'straight unless Harry is in the room with another girl, in which case I am totally okay with going both ways,' as she advanced on her best friend.
...
It was not uncommon for Harry Potter to find himself being 'summoned', especially by an adult. He did, however, find it a tad annoying that the patron of the Delacour line thought that he could do so as he pleased.
The teen knew, naturally, what the man wanted to discuss, and thus decided to attend the meeting and not turn the man inside out. "Although…" he mused as he continued down the hallway towards the main entrance, "it would be a rather interesting experiment."
Crossing the field that separated the lodgings of the various schools the boy knocked on the carriage that he knew temporarily housed the French family. The door opened a moment later, and Jean Delacour gestured for him to enter and take a seat.
"I am glad to see you here Lord Potter," the man began, taking a seat opposite in turn, "I am sure you are aware of Fleur's growing fascination with you, as well as my younger daughter's as well."
The boy flushed, avoiding eye-contact in pretend embarrassment.
This behavior merely confirmed the French Wizard's plans, and he pressed onward, "Now now Lord Potter, there is nothing to be nervous about, I for one am happy for this turn of events. You recall what we spoke of some time ago yes?"
"A-about… uhm… buying them?"
Jean nodded, "Yes, it would truly comfort me to know that my daughters were in such good hands," the man lied, continuing to push the issue with a small amount of guilt interweaved into his strategy. "It is a father's greatest fear that his daughters will fall in love with someone undeserving of them, or even worse to end up alone and uncared for. I know you are not the kind of man to be either of those."
"N-no sir of course not."
The Delacour nodded, inwardly grinning in victory, "I am glad to hear that Harry. It is difficult for a Veela to find love rather than just lust in this world, but I see the potential in you for such a thing." With that he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, before presenting it to the boy-who-lived. "This agreement summarizes everything we have spoken about up until now. A simple bequeathment contract that turns both over to you."
"I…"
"Now I understand that you are nervous about such a thing, and that is perfectly okay. How about you take it back and read it over a few times hm? I would request, however, that this be kept between us. With the negative press surrounding you and my children I have no doubt that any outsiders will take this sort of thing poorly and the rumors will begin to fluctuate once more. I think we can both agree that is the last thing anyone involved wants."
Harry quickly nodded, stuttering out his agreement, "Y-yes I mean no I mean… I don't want them to go through that again sir."
"Good, then take a few days to think it over hm? The terms for payment are quite low for such a thing, more of a formality and show of their value to you than any substantial amount of gold. Shall we meet again in say… a few days?"
....
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