Chapter 8: Intrigues and Allure
"Aving any luck wiz your egg?" Fleur asked Cedric one day. She'd spent days trying to discover it's secrets but the wailing had just given her a headache.
"Now Fleur, I can't go giving away Hogwarts secrets now can I?"
Fleur laughed but the laugh died away as another young man suddenly turned purple as he stared at her.
"What's it like?" Cedric asked when he saw the look on her face. "This power of yours that does that?"
"I 'ate it," Fleur replied honestly. "But it..eet allows Veela to captivate men."
"I'm glad it doesn't work on me," Cedric replied. "At least not for a while."
"Zat is my natural allure," Fleur explained. "If I wanted I could captivate you, but it's something I dislike."
"Really? You really think you can make me be like him?" He nodded at the latest victim of her allure.
"Oui."
"You could make me reveal my darkest secrets as I become a mindless idiot?" He asked in mirth.
Fleur rolled her eyes but nodded. "Oui Cedric but..."
"Prove it!" Cedric challenged. He nodded at her egg and said. "I know the next clue, see if you can get it out of me."
"Are you serious?" Fleur asked.
"Yeah, come on," He pulled her along until there were in an empty classroom and closed the door. "There, no one will bother us."
"Are you really sure about zis?"
"I don't think you can do it."
Fleur smiled and looked Cedric in the eyes and radiated her allure.
Cedric suddenly felt like he was floating while at the same time Fleur seemed to glow brighter than the sun. Suddenly he was back staring at Fleur. "Didn't work did it?" He asked with a smirk.
"I'll 'ear what ze egg says if I 'old it under ze water," She replied with a warm smile.
Diggory's mouth dropped. "But I...I didn't tell you, did I?" He asked disbelievingly, then realizing that he had, he shook his head. "I didn't do anything else...well foolish did I?"
"Non, well nothing zat would make me think less of you anyway," Fleur answered with a smirk.
"Great," Cedric sighed. "Well that at least makes three of us who the egg's secret, I told Harry also."
"Why did you do zat?" Fleur asked with genuine curiosity.
"It was only fair. He was the one who told me about the dragons, damn glad he did too," Cedric explained. "There would've been no way for me to have finished that."
"Why did 'e tell you about ze dragons? Seems to be it would have been to 'is advantage to not tell you," Fleur asked in confusion.
"Well that's Harry for you, he seemed to think you and Viktor knew about them already and he said he only thought it was fair for me to know."
Another letter was soon on the way to Fleur's sister. She'd already described the Yule Ball to her, especially Harry. She described how handsome he'd been, and how he seemed to not to like to dance. Now this letter described another facet of the enigma that was Harry Potter.
She long ago decided Harry had not cheated to get into the tournament, but now when she saw him she often wondered who did it, and why they would.
A return letter from her sister shocked Fleur, but not unpleasantly. It seemed Gabrielle had discovered their Papa was coming to watch the second event and she'd begged and pleaded with him to bring her as well. Her father also knew of his girl's crush on Harry Potter and knew this might be a once in a lifetime chance for her to meet him. As with all fathers who have a pleading daughter, he gave in and agreed to bring her.
"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"
"Of course it is mermish so it's merpeople," Fleur thought as she listened to the golden egg under the water. "The only place they could be at Hogwarts is the lake. But what would I sorely miss?"
Finding the bubblehead charm wasn't too difficult, though she was concerned about two things, the first being the charm only lasted about one hour so she couldn't go over the time limit and the other was being part Veela, a creature of fire, her magical abilities would be greatly diminished underwater.
"Gabrielle!" Fleur exclaimed as her sister skipped over to her. It was February twenty-third and the day before the second task was to begin.
"Where's Harry Potter?" Gabrielle asked after she gave her older sister a hug.
"You have a one track mind don't you?" Fleur laughed. It was good to see her sister. Especially after the conversation she'd just had with the Hogwarts' Headmaster. "What business did he have in wanting to know what my relationship with Roger Davies was?" She thought trying to suppress her anger. "Well I let him know in no uncertain terms that there was no relationship," In fact she hadn't bothered to even look at Davies since the Yule Ball.
"Yes," Gabrielle admitted. "So where is he?"
"I don't know," Fleur admitted. "But I will introduce you tomorrow if you do not see him today."
Gabrielle beamed.
"Now how about I show you around Hogwarts."
"Maybe I'll see Harry?"
"Maybe," Fleur laughed.
It was late in the evening after Fleur had retired that Madam Maxime had approached Gabrielle and her father. "Alain, would it be possible for you and Gabrielle to come with me to see the Hogwarts Headmaster?"
"Of course, but why?"
Olympe sighed. "Fleur has not really built a relationship with anyone here, and this next event will require a hostage for her to rescue."
"A hostage?" Alain suddenly looked worried.
"Someone she cares enough about so she won't give up," Maxime explained. "There are no dangers. The hostage will be put in a deep sleep and will not awaken until they are back on the surface of the lake."
"Surface? They will be under water?" Alain Delacour asked.
"Yes."
Alain nodded with a hint of concern but continued. "So what do you you and the Hogwarts Headmaster want?"
"Gabrielle. We want her to be Fleur's hostage."
"Oh Papa, PLEASE!" Gabrielle exclaimed. "I'll not only get to see Harry, I'll be in it with him. PLEASE!"
Alain looked at Olympe. "Are you sure it's safe?"
"Yes, I've looked over the safeguards and I feel they are sufficient."
Mr. Delacour looked at his daughter who was almost bouncing up and down on her seat. He nodded. "Lets go talk to Dumbledore."
"THANK YOU PAPA!" Gabrielle exclaimed again and threw her arms around her father.
Fleur had gone to bed early but tossed and turned the whole night. She still did not know what the thing she had to recover was. She was surprised though when only her father was waiting for her for breakfast.
"Where's Gabrielle," Fleur asked.
"She's...busy." Alain replied with a hint of concern.
"Is she alright?"
"I hope so," Her father responded but would say no more.
After breakfast, her father escorted her to the lake.
"If the contestants will gather at the judges table," Ludo Bagman said.
"Where's Harry?" Fleur thought as she looked around. She knew her sister would want to meet him and she had to admit, she'd like another smile before the competition.
"Now..." Ludo started, but he too was looking toward the castle in anticipation, "You have one hour to find what you will miss most. For you Mr. Krum, that would be Miss Hermione Granger."
"VAT?" Krum exclaimed, but before he could say anything else, Bagman continued.
"Miss Delacour, it is your sister Gabrielle."
"Non! Zere must be some mistake," She blurted out, but again Ludo had moved on.
"Mr. Diggory.."
"Cho?" Cedric asked already seeing a pattern and the fact Cho had not been at breakfast.
"Yes."
Cedric developed a focused but resigned look on his face.
"It won't come back!" The words echoed in her mind. "They wouldn't let anything happen to her would they?" Fleur thought but then remembered the look of worry on her father's face.
"Has anyone seen Mr..." Ludo had started but a murmur started in the crowd and all eyes turned toward the castle. "Ah there he is now," Ludo finished.
"I'm...here..." Harry panted as he stopped in the mud next to the lake splattering Fleur's robes.
Someone at the judges table asked him where he'd been, but then Bagman started separating them out.
"one…two..three…" and the whistle blew a minute later.
Fleur looked at Harry who had waded into the water without even drawing his wand, she saw him take something out of his pocket and start eating it, but she didn't have time to think of what he was doing though as she thought of Gabrielle, and quickly cast a warming spell on herself then the bubblehead charm before she dove into the water.
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