บท 17: The Coven 0017

That evening, Harry was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace with Gabrielle on his lap. He was caressing her head as she lightly snored while in a deep sleep. He was admiring Fleur's side profile as she made light strokes with her brush on the canvas in front of her with a serious focused expression. She was wearing a set of casual pajamas that already had multiple splashes of paint all over them. Her hair was tied in a bun, giving her a homely look while revealing the hickey from the morning and two new ones that had been added to her nape and neck.

Every once in a while, she would stop and close her eyes to visualize the image before her movements continued with a renewed fervor. As she held her palette in one hand and the brush in the other and continued making more and more strokes, she turned to grab a thinner brush from her stand. That was when her gaze inadvertently went to Harry and she noticed him looking at her with a lost expression.

"'Arry?" She asked. Her gaze went to Gabrielle who was sleeping peacefully in her man's arms and a small imperceptible smile graced her lips.

"Keep going," He said, "I love seeing you in your zone…"

Fleur blushed a little, "Stop it, read a book or something, you're making me conscious."

"Are you drawing something that should be making you conscious?" Harry asked with a sly smile, "You don't usually mind me admiring you while you paint..." He trailed off as his tone took a teasing turn.

"No!" Fleur's answer came far more hurriedly than necessary, "J-just put Gabi to bed, okay? And then read a book or something, let me paint in peace…" She knew that Harry had caught her and decided to stand her ground.

"Fine," He smiled, "You'll show it to me eventually." He put an arm under Gabrielle and grunted lightly, "I'll go tuck Gabi in for the night." He saw Fleur sigh in relief and started walking toward the bedrooms, not forgetting to get an actual glimpse at the canvas. Sadly, it was still incomplete with merely a light background shading along with a couple of strokes that seemed random from what Harry could tell. There wasn't anything substantial on it that would allow him to deduce the final product.

"'Arry!" Fleur's admonishing tone made Harry flinch.

"I was curious, okay? I'm sorry," He said hurriedly when he saw Fleur picking up her wand, presumably to hex him. He quickly turned around and walked to Gabrielle's room. He slowly set her down in the bed and draped the blanket over her. He tucked the sides of the blanket and kissed her forehead, "Night, honey…" He whispered as he saw Gabrielle curling up under the blanket, taking a comfortable posture to sleep.

When he came out, he saw that Fleur had already gotten rid of her art supplies and the canvas that she had been working on. The room still had two canvases that were still on their stands, but they had already been painted on. One of them was a simple landscape view that they had from outside their dorm. The other was a painting that she'd made of Harry and Gabrielle sleeping together on the couch. He'd fallen asleep one day with Gabrielle in his arms and Fleur decided that it would be a nice image to capture.

"I'll work on it when you're asleep." Fleur answered Harry's question before he even asked, "Otherwise you'll cheat and look at it," She crossed her arms under her chest and huffed.

"So that means that you'll never finish it?" Harry asked her, "Cause there's no way I'm letting you go when I'm asleep." He said while walking toward her.

"We'll see about that," Fleur said before pointing her wand at a relatively empty space and conjuring a stool in front of the mirror, "Sit." She pointed at it before summoning some scissors from the luggage with an 'Accio scissors' spell. Seeing Harry's confused expression, she elaborated, "Didn't I say that I'll give you a haircut today?" She asked.

"Oh," Harry raised his brow and said, "Sure." He shrugged and sat on the stool before straightening his back. He frowned and stood back up before modifying Fleur's conjured stool into a more comfortable chair with a backrest, "Better," He said as he sat on it and leaned back.

Fleur didn't say anything and stood behind him before twirling her scissors, looking at him with a little smile through the mirror in front of them, "Scared?" She asked while running her comb through his hair and cutting some of it.

"I was scared four years ago when you demanded that my mum stop cutting my hair and teach you how to do it," Harry said, "I think I'm over it at this point." He squinted at Fleur and scrunched his face while emphasizing his words.

Fleur giggled lightly as she continued fixing his hair in places and cutting the outgrowths while making sure that it wasn't too even either. She did, after all, like the messy look that Harry's hair sported. Soon enough, as Fleur ran her fingers through his hair while turning his head in different directions, Harry's eyes closed as he enjoyed the feeling of his girlfriend's fingers constantly caressing his hair. After a while, she asked, "Are you sure that you want to keep it long for now? I could cut it short if it's too annoying."

"You really don't like my hair being this long, do you?" Harry chuckled, "You've suggested this to me multiple times over the past couple of months. If you really want to, then you can cut it short around the new year."

Fleur blushed a little and mumbled, "I can't hug you as easily without your hair getting in my nose…"

Harry had to stifle a laugh at her words before saying, "Now you know how I feel all the time."

"Hey! My hair is actually long unlike your fake long. It doesn't annoy you…" Fleur got a little less confident as she spoke, but still stood her ground, "…as much," She walked to Harry's side, making him tilt his head to the side so that she could work on the hair that had grown around his ear. Harry felt his elbow brushing directly against Fleur's crotch as she leaned forward to get a better view. He moved his arm slightly inward, but Fleur just leaned even further, signaling to Harry that it was a deliberate action. He just smiled with his eyes still closed and let Fleur do her thing. After rubbing her crotch on his arm for a few seconds, she was done with this side and moved to the other side, repeating the process, eventually giving up when she failed to get a reaction out of him.

"Now for your front," Fleur mumbled before moving in front of Harry and climbing up on the chair. She got up and straddled Harry, forcing him to move his posture a little so that he could accommodate her on the seat. She almost pressed her body against his as his face got buried in her perfectly perky chest. She continued cutting his hair and heaving her chest up and down every once in a while, teasing him. He passively enjoyed the heavenly feeling that he was being subjected to as Fleur moved his head around with her hands and buried his face in her chest, adding some final touches to his hair.

***

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