Veela Magic

Chapter 8: A Hollow Sky

Her own innocence surrounding her
Until it never was a question
Innocence so suffocating
Now she cannot move, no question

Harry awoke slowly, his bedsheets tangling in his legs and his mind still sunk in a muddy daze. With a great deal of effort, he wrenched one eye open a crack, and, getting nothing but a painful line of yellow light for his troubles, closed it again.

"Harry, wake up!"

This time Harry tried opening the other eye, and saw a familiar freckled face hovering above his bed, on the other side from the window. Window. That's where the burning light was coming from. Oh, that's it. It must be morning.

"Harry, you've really got to get up." Ron reached over and gave his shoulder a gentle shake. "You've already missed breakfast, and the game starts soon."

Harry sat up, blinking. "I missed breakfast?" Ron nodded. "I didn't sleep too well. Bad dreams."

Ron looked faintly alarmed. "Those kind of bad dreams, you mean?" He stared at Harry's forehead fearfully.

Harry shook his head, still feeling bleary. "I'm not sure. I haven't been sleeping too well for a while, but I don't really remember my dreams. Just that they're not good – but it could mean anything. It doesn't feel like the other times," he said, partly to reassure Ron. It wasn't like the clear-sighted horrible visions he'd seen before, but it still wasn't fun.

Ron's face lightened a bit. "Well, in that case maybe you should be more worried about missing your girlfriend's big match against Slytherin. She's not going to be happy if you don't wish her luck beforehand, you know." He poked Harry in the leg. "Come on. Up!"

Harry laughed. "Okay, Ron, just give me a second." He pulled the curtains of his bed closed and got dressed hastily. He'd managed to knock his glasses off his bedside table during the night, but luckily they hadn't been cracked. He put them on and then jumped out to stand beside Ron. "Right. Do you know where Cho is?"

"She was just finishing off breakfast when I came up, so she probably hasn't gone too far. I'm supposed to meet Fleur by the lake in a few minutes, so we'd better hurry."

They found the Great Hall empty, however, and Ron said nervously, "Um, Harry, you don't mind if I leave you now, do you? I've got to go meet Fleur, and then we're going to watch the game together."

Harry smiled. "Don't worry, Ron, I'll be fine. I'm sure Fleur would be terribly upset if you kept her waiting."

Ron flashed him a grateful grin. "See you later, then. Hope Ravenclaw crush those bloody Slytherins!"

Harry wandered outside after Ron disappeared into the middle distance. He still wasn't feeling the best after his troubled sleep, and his stomach was sending out definite signs that it didn't appreciate him missing breakfast, but the clear air was refreshing. He looked up at the sky – pale blue, cold but with no clouds. It was an excellent day for flying, and he hoped Cho would enjoy it. She looked beautiful in the air – her Quidditch boots hooked into the cleats of her broom and her slim body braced against the wind as she flew with steady determination.

Harry was so engrossed in thoughts of Cho in flight that it came as quite a shock to see her walking on the grass not twenty yards in front of him. She was talking energetically with Fleur, who looked like being late for her lakeside appointment with Ron.

"But he's not even attractive!" Cho was saying. Harry frowned. They weren't talking about Ron, were they? "He's short and scrawny and immature." Short? Definitely not Ron.

"He does have Veela blood," said Fleur. Harry's pulse slowed a little.

"Only a fraction. I wouldn't have noticed, anyway."

Fleur laughed, and put her arm around Cho. "It'll be enough, even though he's not nearly as pretty as you."

This had been going on long enough, Harry decided. He felt very awkward, eavesdropping on his girlfriend without her knowledge, even if it was by mistake, mostly. He cleared his throat. "Cho! Hi."

Cho and Fleur snapped around with a look of shock on their faces. Harry decided to make a clean breast of it.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help hearing a bit of your conversation as I was walking up. I didn't mean to listen. You were talking about – it wasn't Draco Malfoy, was it?" Malfoy was the only boy Harry knew at Hogwarts who had Veela blood, although he didn't really fit the rest of Cho's description, being no shorter than Harry himself.

"Yes," Fleur said, smiling. She moved aside a little so that Harry could stand beside Cho. "A friend of ours likes him, and Cho doesn't think he's good enough for her."

"He certainly isn't!" exclaimed Harry.

"Oh, you know the girl, then?"

"Well, no, actually," Harry said, thinking that a horrible person like Malfoy could never be good enough for any friend of Cho's. "Oh, is it Padma Patil?" He remembered it now, her giggling to her twin about Malfoy's looks after his dramatic exit from the Ravenclaw victory party. After Malfoy had started that fight with him – or had he been the one to start the fight?

"Yes," Cho said, after exchanging a quick look with Fleur.

Harry sighed. No matter where he went, Malfoy always seemed to be there, poisoning his life and forcing him into conflict. Harry didn't want him to start going out with a friend of Cho's! What could Padma Patil be thinking, anyway? To go out with Lucius Malfoy's son? Ravenclaws weren't supposed to be so shallow as to judge on appearances alone.

"Well, I suppose she is Parvati's sister," said Harry shortly.

Cho put her hand in his. "It's nothing serious, I'm sure. Padma probably won't do anything besides talk about him with her friends in fifth year."

"I hope so," said Harry.

"I'm late to meet Ron!" Fleur exclaimed, and started to walk away at high speed. "Good luck today, Cho!" she called over her shoulder. Cho waved at her as she left.

"This is lovely, Harry..." Cho said shyly after they'd walked for a few more minutes, "but I really need to get to my team. The game's starting in less than an hour."

Harry kissed her, a quick, hard kiss that seemed to take her by surprise. "Cho, I want you to win today," he said urgently. "I want you to beat Malfoy into the ground."

Cho looked startled, but then she grinned widely and said "If I can beat Gryffindor, surely I can beat Slytherin, can't I, Harry?"

Harry had to laugh. "Yes, you can."

Cho took her bag and hurried off, not even pausing to give Harry a farewell wave. Harry smiled. She was getting to be almost like Oliver Wood about Quidditch, wrapped up in her sport so that she often seemed distracted in conversation when a game was coming up, or busy at odd times. Harry liked that about her.

Should he walk up to the lake and go to the game together with Ron and Fleur? No, they probably wanted to be alone together. Best to go back to the castle and find Hermione. She might think of taking the opportunity of a Quidditch match Gryffindor weren't playing in to get some extra revision in, but Harry would make sure she came along to cheer Ravenclaw!

"Shut the fuck up, Pucey!" Draco exploded.

"You're not the captain," Pucey sneered. "You're just a half-assed Seeker who can't beat Harry Potter."

The changing room grew quiet all of a sudden. The Slytherin team knew this was Draco's sore point.

Draco's pale skin flushed, and he was silent for a moment, the muscles in his jaw working. The team waited, and then he spoke, softly and viciously.

"I'm the Seeker who's beaten every Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Seeker they've set against me since I started playing. I'm the Seeker who leads this team to victory even after you manage to drop your bat in the middle of a match, Pucey. So if you want to beat the team that beat Harry Potter, and if you want to beat Potter himself afterwards, then you'd better listen to me. Because you haven't got a hope without me."

Draco sat down on the bench and crossed his legs. "Well?"

Blaise Zabini pushed past Pucey, and after a pause, the rest of the team followed. "We'll listen to you – right?" All the players except Pucey nodded. "We want to win."

Draco gave a half-smile. "Right. The key to Ravenclaw's strategy is their Beaters. Not only do they attack everything Slytherin that moves, but they're helping Chang look for the Snitch. They work together – one of them causing mayhem in the middle of the field, hopefully involving the opposite Seeker, and the other hovering around the edges, holding off any enterprising Chasers trying to reach the goal the long way round and watching for the Snitch."

"Hey! We should try that too!" said Slytherin's youngest Beater. He smacked his Bludger off the wall for emphasis.

Draco sighed. "Amazing. So your brains aren't made from chopped Grindylow bladder after all."

The boy seemed confused. "Do you want us to try it or not?"

Draco sighed again. "Yes, you idiot. And what else should you do?"

"Knock the brains out of the Ravenclaw Beater who's watching for the Snitch!" said Blaise Zabini enthusiastically.

"Right," Draco nodded. "Now, Chang herself is going to be trying to distract the players. I don't know if you noticed at the last match, but she spent so much time flashing leg at Potter that I'm surprised she managed to fly at all."

"Maybe we should have her on our team," Blaise chuckled.

"We're more subtle than that," Draco said shortly. "Right, so if any of you want to stare at Chang, you can do it on your own time."

"Isn't she going to be trying to distract you the most?" Blaise asked.

"Probably. But I can tell you for certain that Chang's little trick is not going to work on me."

From across the room, Pucey laughed harshly.

"Queer."

The green-robed players looked fearfully at each other as Draco calmly walked past them.

"Got something you want to say to me, Pucey?" Draco enquired.

Pucey smirked. "You heard me."

Draco swung his fist in a blur, and hit him – not in the face, but in the throat. Pucey fell back, clutching his neck protectively and staring at Draco with wide, terrified eyes.

"I don't think you're going to be saying anything else for a while," Draco told him. "But you should still be able to play Quidditch."

He turned around to face the other players. "That's all, team. Now let's go out there and and steamroll Ravenclaw."

They followed him without a word.

"GO RAVENCLAW!!!" yelled Ron. He was wearing a blue jumper his mother had knitted for him, and had borrowed a Ravenclaw scarf to wear for the match. Fleur had approved, telling him that blue was a much more flattering colour for his hair - "such beautiful hair! Like flames, warm and strong!" – than red. He'd flushed a most unflattering colour when she'd said that, and she'd laughed and kissed him on the cheek. Seamus hadn't been too happy with Ron's choice of clothing for the match – "We're all supporting Ravenclaw, Ron, but we're supporting them as Gryffindors! Remember, they beat us last week!" – but Ron had told him severely that the less Seamus got behind Ravenclaw, the more he was getting behind Slytherin, and that it was a pity the whole school wasn't wearing blue. Ron thought Seamus had backed off saying "nutter" at that point, but he wasn't sure he'd heard properly.

"Cho's out on the pitch!" Ron said happily, turning to his girlfriend. "Doesn't she look great? Malfoy won't have a chance against her today."

"She certainly does," said Fleur, a slight smile on her face.

"And they're off!" called Lee Jordan. "Ravenclaw, the team who never fail to surprise this year – suffering a crushing defeat against Hufflepuff, and then beating Gryffindor, the team whose Seeker has only lost one match since his career started! Unexpected defeat or unexpected victory – which will we see today? Ravenclaw play Slytherin –"

"BOO!" cried Ron.

"- a team who have tended in the past to have a slight edge over Ravenclaw, playing close, hard-fought matches, and then taking victory just when it seemed to be in Ravenclaw's grasp. Will Ravenclaw buck the trend today? Will Slytherin's dirty tricks once more overwhelm the team who've been described as "The Flying Intellectuals"? We can only watch with bated breath and wait!"

Ron craned his neck anxiously. The Quaffle was arcing towards the Slytherin goal, and it didn't look like Slytherin's Keeper could possibly reach the ball in time – but then, in a move that was probably illegal, Ron decided, he stretched out from his broom and kicked it away! What kind of fair play was that? Keepers use their hands!

"Did you see that bastard?" Ron cried indignantly.

"Yes, yes," Fleur sighed. "It's a pity we didn't get a goal."

"It's a travesty!" Ron said angrily. "Your team deserve to win, Fleur!"

"And in what I must admit was a clever manoeuvre," Lee Jordan announced grudgingly, "Slytherin's Keeper has kicked the Quaffle back into play, and the Slytherin goal is safe."

"Bollocks," Ron muttered.

The teams were in a strange formation today – Bludgers were zipping about viciously in the centre of the pitch, where Malcolm Baddock and Teresa Fawcett were fighting for control of the zone. Baddock was clearly trying to knock Teresa off her broom in the process! The poor girl was bravely fighting him off all on her own, Ron saw, warming in indignation. Most of the other players had adjusted tactics and were avoiding that area altogether, some flying so low they almost skidded off the ground, and others almost grazing the stands. Cho flew by Ron and Fleur, steering well clear of the fracas further in. Ron gave her a cheerful wave but Cho was so busy looking out for Bludgers, as well as the Snitch, that she didn't see him.

"Come on, Cho!" Ron shouted. Slytherin's other Beater, who was following hard on Cho's heels, gave Ron a dirty look. Typical Slytherin – didn't even want to give people the freedom of speech!

The game continued for a long time with no sight of the Snitch. Ravenclaw were slightly ahead on points – they had the most talented Chasers in the school, no doubt about it, second only to Gryffindor's, of course – but those bloody Slytherins kept clawing their way back into the game, slamming Ravenclaw's players aside as they stormed the Ravenclaw goal.

Then it happened. A little way off from Ron's seat, a sparkling flutter of gold hovered into view – he wanted to scream and signal to Cho, but he knew that was against the rules. Only Slytherin would be cheating that day – nobody would be cheating if Ron Weasley had any say in it! And Cho was actually further away than Malfoy, so it probably wouldn't help at all if Ron drew attention to the Snitch. But Cho saw it anyway, and cut through the air with such a speed that Ron could hear the wind whistling sharply through her robes as she hurtled towards him. She was going to catch it!

Both of Slytherin's Beaters suddenly appeared, menacing Cho with the threat of two Bludgers to the head at once. She shrank back for a second, looking around warily – giving them time enough to get between her and the Snitch just overhead. Draco Malfoy flew in from above, and paused for just long enough to catch her eye maliciously – before clasping the Snitch firmly in his palm.

The stands exploded with boos and hisses, and Ron turned to Fleur to exclaim in disgust at Malfoy's behaviour. But she wasn't there – she was rushing down the steps to find Cho, who was flying straight down to the edge of the pitch in her hurry to leave.

Cho was some distance away from the Quidditch pitch, smacking her broomstick into the ground as she walked, when Fleur caught up with her.

"Cho!" Fleur panted, catching her arm. "We have to do it now."

Cho broke away from her grasp. "I just lost to him. This is hardly a great time for us to start giving him orders."

"Is Quidditch really that important to you?"

"It's not about Quidditch!" Cho protested. "You haven't spent that much time in Hogwarts, or even Britain. You don't know what the Malfoys are like – what Draco's like. He's a stuck-up brat, and he'll be at his absolute worst right now. He'd probably make us beg."

"I may not know Hogwarts very well," Fleur said quietly, "but I know our Master's plans."

She looked resolute, and unafraid, and – disappointed in Cho.

"I'm sorry," Cho said, reaching out a hand to touch Fleur's. "I didn't think –"

"Draco Malfoy has been well taught by his father. He might behave like a spoilt child in Hogwarts, surrounded by his social inferiors, but he knows that he has to carry out tasks ordered by his Master, just as we do. And he's not going to argue with his Master's messengers. He knows it would endanger his life."

Cho didn't argue any further, but she couldn't help feeling that letting Draco Malfoy have any part in their plans could only complicate things badly. She let out a sigh. "All right, Fleur. Let's go find him and get it over with."

They walked back to the Quidditch pitch in silence, occasionally being stopped by disappointed students who commiserated with Cho over her loss. At least it was a good thing to know that most people in the school agreed with her about Malfoy. She saw a bunch of Slytherins yelling in celebration some yards away and suddenly realised: These are the only people who would agree with what I'm doing now. And I don't even like them. It was a disquieting thought, and she tried to push it out of her mind as they approached the door of the Slytherin changing room, where Malfoy stood with wet hair from his shower and his broom by his side.

"Draco," Fleur said. "We need to talk to you – somewhere quieter."

Malfoy looked at them quizzically. "You can congratulate me here. I've got things to do, you know." He's such a prat, Cho thought, exasperated. How can we ever trust him to do his job properly?

"Your father wouldn't appreciate us being overheard, I think," Fleur said off-handedly.

Malfoy's grey eyes widened, whether in surprise or fear Cho couldn't tell. "My father? He's sending a message through you?"

"Yes!" Cho interrupted, afraid that this could go too far in an altogether too public place. "But we need to talk in private. Let's walk towards the lake."

Malfoy glared at her for an instant, but then acquiesced. "Right. I'll come."

They made an odd group, walking together in the direction of the lake – Fleur walking confidently in the middle, Malfoy trying to remain inscrutable but betraying his nervousness by curious glances at the two girls, and Cho trying to remain calm, but all the time very afraid that Harry would show up unexpectedly and her pretence would be ruined.

They had reached a small copse in the grounds, with a few trees branching widely above their heads – ordinary pine trees, but the bright flowers that bloomed in their shade in mid-November were surely magical – when Fleur said, "This is far enough. We can talk here."

Malfoy leaned against one of the trees. "Fine. What is it?"

It didn't take Cho by surprise, but she saw Malfoy flinch when Fleur cast a Silentium charm. A shimmering thread ran around the trees, trapping the three of them in a circle of silence. When Fleur spoke, her voice seemed oddly clear and loud. Sounds could not leave the circle, but they couldn't enter it either.

"We work for the same cause your father does, Draco. I came back to Hogwarts to learn how to undermine the defences of Hogwarts. I persuade people to reveal their secrets using the power of my Veela blood, which is enhanced at crucial moments by the power of other Veela."

Malfoy jerked his head towards Cho. "She's no Veela." A sneering tone entered his voice. "What can she do?"

Fleur raised her eyebrows. "You haven't noticed Harry Potter's attachment to Cho? She doesn't need Veela blood to tease out his secrets."

Malfoy snorted. "Makes sense. She plays the whore pretty well."

Bastard.

Fleur looked shocked. I told you this wouldn't be a good idea, Cho thought, watching her friend. Then she turned her eyes, narrowed with hatred, on Malfoy.

"Well, you'd better learn to do it yourself soon," she muttered venomously.

"What, you're not pretty enough to seduce Potter by yourself?" Malfoy laughed uproariously. "I know the Dark Lord has a history of picking useless recruits, but you really take the biscuit."

"Draco!" Fleur interjected. "Listen, you have Veela blood – not enough to make any difference normally, but it is there, and it can be enhanced by the same spell which enhances mine. We need you to work on the women of Hogwarts."

Malfoy stared at her. "Let me get this straight. You want me charm information out of women – sort of an irresistibly sexy spy routine. That's Voldemort's plan to conquer the world?"

"Yes."

"Sorry, I just need to be quite clear about this. The Dark Lord wants me to have sex with women? Lots of women?"

"Well, you probably won't need to actually have sex with them," Fleur said, shrugging.

"Pity."

"Fancy sleeping with Professor Trelawney?" Cho inquired.

Malfoy blanched. "Good point. Wouldn't say no to Sinistra, though," he added thoughtfully.

"Lord Voldemort is convinced that the secret to Hogwarts' defences lies with Potter's group of friends," Fleur continued. "Cho's taking care of Harry, and I'm working on Ron. We need you for Hermione Granger."

Malfoy's eyes widened. "What will the rest of the Slytherins say if I start going out with a Mudblood? I have a reputation to protect here, you know."

"I'm sure your classmates will appreciate your sacrifice after they realise why you did it," Fleur replied. "After our victory, there won't be any more Mudbloods. You can comfort yourself with that thought."

"Wait a minute." Malfoy looked confused. "What's the plan, exactly?"

"After the new order takes over, spells will be cast on the Muggle population every year preventing the birth of Muggle-born witches and wizards. Muggles and wizardry will finally be completely separate, as they always should have been. Hermione Granger is among the last of her kind, Draco."

"Right. So after this onerous duty, I get the acclaim of the world? Maybe a statue or two? Supporters of the old order trying to assassinate me every time I turn around?"

"Shut up," Cho said, exasperated by Malfoy's insufferable cockiness. Why was Fleur calling him Draco, anyway? "You don't have a choice in this and you know it. Your father has decided that you're to be involved. I've heard that you're something of a disappointment to him, aren't you? This is how you're going to change that and bring glory to the Malfoy name."

There was complete silence in the shielded copse as Malfoy stared at Cho with a look of pitiless hatred. She held his gaze, but found herself shivering from the onslaught of his glare.

Very deliberately, Malfoy turned to Fleur. "So, how does this ‘enhancement' thing work, exactly? Two nice Ravenclaw girls making eyes is all very well, but people are going to take notice if I start sending Granger valentines. And she's going to be suspicious. She might be a Mudblood, but she's damn smart."

"Slytherin-Gryffindor relationships aren't that uncommon," Fleur responded. "You'll just make it seem like you're having a fit of teenage rebellion – your father can back that up. As for actually seducing her, I'm afraid you're going to be mostly on your own for that. For important encounters – such as when you're looking for sensitive information that she'll be hesitant to betray – we will set up meetings in the Astronomy Tower where a spell will be done on you, giving you the power of twenty or so Veela."

Malfoy whistled. "That'll be pretty impressive. Who are the meetings with, anyway?"

"Lord Voldemort sends his image through a fire, and performs the spell."

Cho felt a certain satisfaction as she watched Malfoy squirm. He'd be a bit more humble once he'd felt the fear of Voldemort's presence freeze his blood and send him to his knees in helpless servitude.

It took Malfoy a while to say, "Okay," and when he did, he sounded much less sure of himself than before. Cho smiled.

"Hermione won't be your only target, but she'll be your most important one," Fleur said. "From time to time, we get instructions, and we can also make decisions based on the information we get from various sources." She looked at him critically. "It's a nuisance you don't have more Veela blood – you probably won't be able to work on anybody but Hermione unaided – but you'll do."

"Thanks," Malfoy said with a trace of sarcastic confidence entering his voice again. "Good to know you think I can get myself a girl, Fleur. It's not like I haven't done it before or anything."

"If our Master didn't think you capable of carrying out this task, he wouldn't have let you do it." Fleur glanced around. "We've been here long enough. Do you need any further instructions at the moment? Naturally, if you breathe a word of this to anybody else, Lord Voldemort will see that you pay for it."

"Naturally," Malfoy drawled. "And I'll be just fine without any tips from you on pulling girls."

"All right. Don't press her for any information yet – getting her to stop hating you would be a good way to start. Oh, and we've told Harry that Padma Patil is interested in you – it's a long story – so make sure Hermione doesn't get jealous."

"Padma Patil is interested in me," Malfoy said, looking offended. He took his wand out, pointed it at the nearest space between the trees, and intoned, "Finite Incantatem." The thread broke, leaving Fleur looking startled.

"Good game, Chang," Malfoy said to her, before striding out into the sunlight.

Fleur waited until he was gone before hurrying over to Cho and wrapping her arms around her. "Cho! I am so sorry – he said those horrible things to you. I wanted to stop him, but I had to get his co-operation. I should have said something – I should have told him how important you are to this, how he has absolutely no right to talk to you that way – oh, I'm sorry. Do you understand, ma chérie? Forgive me."

"It's true, though, isn't it?" Cho said slowly. Fleur's hair was brushing against her ear, and she allowed her head to slump onto the blonde girl's shoulder. "That's what we have to become. Whores." She bit off the word, hearing Malfoy's voice ringing savagely through her mind.

Fleur's grip tightened around her. "Not you. I promise. You were never meant to be a part of this in the first place – I wanted to protect you. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be on the other side." Her lovely deep voice was choked.

"I'm glad I'm a part of it," Cho murmured, stroking Fleur's hair. "I'm glad I'm with you. If you had to do this alone – I don't know how you could have done it; I know I wouldn't have been able to. At least we have each other now."

"Yes," Fleur said, leaning back and looking Cho full in the eyes. "We do."

Cho smiled, trying to blink back her tears. "Don't you wish we could just put back the Silentium charm and stay here, where we couldn't hear anything happening outside?"

Fleur reached out and wiped away a tear from Cho's cheek with a soft finger. "We could for a while, if you like."

"I can't," Cho exclaimed. "I've just remembered – I'm supposed to meet Harry. A post-Quidditch thing, you know... oh, I don't want to go, but I have to."

Fleur drew away regretfully. "Yes, you do." She smoothed down her robes. "Come on – we can walk together, at least."

They left the copse arm in arm, blinking as they left the shade. "Where do you think Harry will be?" asked Fleur.

"He probably waited for me outside the changing room," said Cho, looking down ruefully at her blue Quidditch robes. "I didn't get time to change. Oh well, I'll tell him I was so upset, I went off by myself – I'll tell him I didn't want him to see me after I lost. That'll get him sympathetic, and he won't ask me any questions."

"We don't want him to hate Draco too much, though. Harry's going to have to get used to Draco going out with one of his best friends, so you shouldn't seem too upset that he beat you."

Cho rather wished that Harry could still hate him. But it didn't look like that was an option anymore. "What if I said that Malfoy congratulated me on a good game? We could get him to corroborate that. It'd be a start."

"Good idea." Fleur looked at her steadily. "You're going to have to get used to calling him ‘Draco', though. You may not like him – I haven't seen much to like of him, either – but he's part of our team now. We all have to learn to rely on one another."

Cho grimaced. "I know. I'll learn to get on with him. Just one condition, though."

"What?"

"We make him sleep with Professor Trelawney."

Fleur laughed. "You minx! Oh look, there's your boyfriend."

Sadly, she was right. Harry Potter was waiting outside the Ravenclaw changing room, his hair messier than usual and a worried expression on his face. She grasped Fleur's hand briefly, and then hurried up to meet Harry, preparing to be brave in defeat.