Ecstatic Immolation

Ecstatic Immolation

Chapter 3: Preparation

The next morning, Harry woke up to find that he and Fleur had drifted together in the night. They were pressed against each other, back to back, in the middle of the expansive bed. Harry suppressed his initial surprise and closed his eyes again, reveling in the feel of his mate's warm body against his.

How long they rested like that, Harry didn't know, but he eventually realized that Fleur was no longer asleep. Since she wasn't jumping up or talking, Harry finally decided to take the initiative and, his voice still thick from sleep, asked, "Fleur?"

She shifted against him and he licked his lips nervously as her body moved against his, making him painfully aware of their proximity. "Yes, 'Arry?"

Somewhat relieved at the perfectly natural tone to her voice, Harry pressed on, "We're still here, right? This wasn't all a dream, was it?"

"No, 'Arry," she replied, her voice becoming a little less throaty as she grew accustomed to speaking again and taking on an edge of amusement.

"Well... good," he said, trembling a bit as he seized his Gryffindor courage and rolled over, his left arm snaking around the girl's waist. "I'm glad it's not a dream."

Fleur pressed back against him, almost snuggling, and laughed lightly. "Were you always so charming?" she asked and placed her hand atop his. The skin-to-skin contact caused a buzz to course through Harry. It was every bit as pleasant as it had been the first time they touched after that first kiss, but now Harry could handle the sensations a little better.

Though he was a little fuzzy from the intoxicating feeling of touching his mate, Harry's voice was serious when he spoke next. "You know... I don't think I was. Charming, I mean. I think I've been changing a lot the few days."

Her fingers laced with his, and she snuggled backwards more emphatically against him which caused a certain portion of Harry's anatomy to experience blood flow issues. "I had hoped I was not the only one... I think I may be changing, as well. It is subtle, but I think our Bond might be pushing us together more. Rounding off our rough edges to make us fit together better. Like the pieces of a puzzle."

Harry smiled softly and squeezed Fleur once, hoping that she hadn't noticed him poking her in the rump. "I think I understand... I can't imagine us, as we were last year, being together for the long term. As it is, I don't think I mind changing. Fitting together with you sounds brilliant."

Fleur laughed lightly at this and pulled on his hand, slipping out from under his arm and away. "We will discuss that, in time. Right now, we shouldn't be in such a rush. Our esteemed Mentors mentioned that we might be here for years. We shouldn't concern ourselves overmuch with..." she paused and her eyes drifted down to Harry's not-so little problem. She chewed on her lip a bit before breaking into a wide grin and finishing the statement that Harry had feared she would, "... fitting together, just yet."

Harry blushed crimson and Fleur laughed again, hitting him in the head with a thrown pillow. Snapped out of his embarrassment, Harry returned fire and soon they were in the midst of a full blow pillow fight. It ended when Harry ran out of ammunition and the French girl sealed her victory with a light kiss on his lips that ended far sooner than he would have liked. As fleeting as the contact was, both of them took a moment to recover from the experience before venturing out of their room.

Some time later, they were spending the rest of a lazy morning in the common room with Jovan and Gadralla as Harry tried to get his head around his new, rather strange, situation. Waking up with Fleur had brought out both uncertainties and desires in the young man, and the two opposing forces waged war in his mind for a while. Eventually, Harry's mind had settled down enough to be able to formulate intelligent questions. He wasn't done with his issues, of course, but a temporary ceasefire had been called.

"So... last night, you said that you're going to train us?" he asked and at Jovan's nod, he continued. "Why, exactly? I mean, I can't shake the feeling that the trap in the tournament was meant for me, so I've got a feeling that I'll need it, but what does training have to do with Bonding?"

The older man paused for a moment, as though thinking over Harry's words, and then replied. "Veela Bonds are a powerful piece of light magic, as they are, ultimately, composed of life energy. Dark magic, and I don't mean half the stuff that your Ministry considers to be dark magic, is generally based on negative energies. True dark magic is based on energies of destruction, decay, disruption, or domination. True light magic is the exact opposite of dark magic, focusing on health, happiness, renewal, and sharing. Bonded can use dark magic to an extent, just as a dark wizard might use light magic, though doing so is not natural for us. Because of this natural opposition, the Bonded have naturally found themselves opposed to dark wizards since time began. We don't always go out of our way to fight them, but it often happens."

Jovan paused again, and looked to his wife. Harry nodded with only a small amount of hesitation as he parsed the information. Gadralla took her mate's hand and picked up the explanation. "Some legends say that each pair of Bonded is destined to face a particularly powerful Dark Lord. Though I don't think that's true, there do seem to be an alarming number of Dark Lords involved with the Bonded. Thus, somehow, these bubble worlds came into being, whether as a boon from some higher power or as a natural defense mechanism for our kind. This place exists only so long as you are here, and a new one is made for each Bonded pair. It is like a cocoon that protects you and allows you to change into what you will become. Here, you can learn what you will need to survive when you return to reality from those who have come before, make plans, and generally strengthen your bond before you have to face the harshness of the real world."

She offered her many-times-great grandson a soft smile. "If your Dark Lord did not already seek to destroy you, I can almost guarantee that he would try to harm you when news of what you are gets out. The legends of what the Bonded can do, while obscure and fraught with inaccuracies, would serve to draw those who seek power to you, either to destroy you or to control you. You will have to be strong to avoid them."

Harry's face grew grim and he nodded again. Fleur slipped her hand into his and offered him a reassuring squeeze, but otherwise said nothing. What Gadralla had said resonated within him, and he could feel an almost palpable need to protect his mate at all costs. So intense was the sensation that he only registered Fleur's hand as a comforting presence rather than the more customary nearly electric tingle. After a while, Harry asked another question that had come to light that morning. "We noticed... well, we think that we're starting to change. Our personalities are a little different from how they were. Is that another affect of the bond?"

Both of their mentors nodded and Jovan took up the answer. "As time goes on, you notice that you're not just changing emotionally, but also physically and magically. Emotionally and physically, each of you will start to shift more toward what the other one desires in an ideal mate. What, exactly, that means to you, I can't tell you. In time, it will become obvious as you will get along much better than you might have otherwise. One thing I can say for certain is that, Harry, you're going to find yourself becoming more moody as you start to become more Veela. Fleur, you might also notice that your emotional bursts intensify. This is just an intermediate step in the process, however, and will fade with time. Until that happens, we will be teaching you Occlumency to help you control your emotions better. There are a few additional benefits from the art, but they are fairly redundant because your Bond already provides you with a high degree of protection from outside mental influence."

"Magically, you're both going to be stronger than you ever were. The eventual strength you will achieve will be determined by Harry's potential, but increased somewhat even over that. Harry, I'd say that, prior to the Bond, you might have rivaled Dumbledore's strength by the time you reached forty and would have topped out a hair higher than Voldemort. Now, I'd say you will be in the same order of magnitude as Dumbledore by the time you return to reality and will probably match him by twenty-five, if not sooner. It will only go up from there. Fleur, you will notice the most difference, as you were only a little above average before the bond. You've probably doubled in strength since the bond started, though I doubt you've had occasion to notice."

Surprised at this, it took Harry several seconds to sputter out, "You mean... we're both going to be that strong?"

Gadralla took it in turn to reply. "Strong, yes. But strength is only a part of magic, and even then it's not the most important part. There's a diminishing return associated with most magic. That means that past a certain point, throwing more magic at something is just wasting the magic for a tiny gain in effect. What it does do for you is allow you to cast a lot more spells than a weaker magician or to attempt more powerful spells more often. The one that calls himself Voldemort is the strongest around at your time, but he still fears Dumbledore who is, quite honestly, weaker than he," she added. "Dumbledore, however, is a more skilled and diverse spellcaster, which gives him a distinct edge. If they were to simply stand and throw cutting hexes at each other until one fell, Voldemort would win every time... but that is not how fights are won. There are equal parts strength, skill, creativity, and luck associated with any magical battle and strengths in one area can compensate for weaknesses in others."

"As we have said, we fear that you two will run afoul of your current Dark Lord sooner rather than later. There is a gap in skill that I fear only time and experience can bridge, but you will have some other advantages which should help you out. Veela are very passionate creatures, and that means that they can perform many types of magic through intent alone as their capacity for intent is truly impressive. Part-Veela share this ability to an extent, but Bonded have a much greater degree of proficiency with it. First, take Veela fire. It is very energy efficient for a Veela to create and it's not bad in a fight. Unfortunately, the amount of power that most Veela have to draw on is very limited, so against a wizard the fire is only of limited use. You, however, are not under that restriction," she finished, grinning widely. "Watch this."

Gadralla conjured a small ball of flame, which guttered the normal orange and red of Veela fire. Then she started to pump more magical energy into the sphere and soon she was holding a ball of white hot heat that almost blinded her observers. The fact that they could feel the heat washing over them in waves from ten feet away was pretty impressive. Suddenly, the fireball vanished and they blinked the after images out of their vision to look at Gadralla again. "You hit a cap with Veela fire, too, but it's past the point where you start burning yourself with it. Since you're naturally a little bit fire resistant, that means it's horribly hot by that point and I doubt you'll ever have a need to go past that. Fire that hot is good for melting through things, like steel, stone, people..."

Harry and Fleur laughed nervously at the thought and the conversation soon turned to the type of schedule they were going to be setting in the coming days and months.

... BREAK ...

It didn't take long for Harry to begin to regret expressing his initial misgivings about owning Gryffindor's sword as Jovan sought to make a fighter out of him. Jovan stressed the need for a weapon as some creatures were nearly impossible to damage with magic and the overall physical conditioning would help with other things. Remembering well his draconic encounter during the tournament and the fight with the basilisk, Harry threw himself into the sessions with a vengeance after the first few lessons even though his first session with the sword had been awkward, at best.

"Harry, in your fight with the Basilisk, you used the sword like a sharp stick. Even if you'd used it as a sword, which I don't think would have helped you much against a beast of that size, you still wouldn't have been using one tenth of the power of the weapon," Jovan explained, holding up a dream world duplicate of the Sword of Gryffindor. "The first thing you need to do is join it to you. A little blood on the ruby set here should do the trick. It only works for those of our bloodline or our bonded, so don't worry about that too much."

Jovan handed the blade to Harry and he scratched his finger and dripped some blood on the gemstone which glowed red briefly. Jovan created another dream duplicate of the weapon and did the same thing. "Now, you'll want to put your wand into it." Just tap the ruby three times with the wand tip. He did so and his wand vanished. Harry, somewhat hesitantly, did the same. "Good, now you're ready to start learning how to use the thing. Calling it the Sword of Gryffindor is really a bit misleading, though that is how Father preferred to use it. It's really the Weapon of Gryffindor. The weapon has no set shape or form, though it defaults to a sword at Father's request."

Harry nodded along, not interjecting any of his questions just yet but instead marveling once more at the beauty of the weapon he held. When he'd had it in his hands before, he'd never really had the time to examine it, but now he did and found it magnificence.

"Simply will the weapon to change, and it will do so and hold the new shape until you will it to change again. After a couple of weeks out of your presence, it'll revert to a sword, eject your wand, and have to be rebounded, but that shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, the most common change in form is to that of a wand. Since you've put your wand in there, you can cast spells with it in any form, though it'll probably take you a while to get used to doing so in anything other than wand shape as the movements are more difficult to get used to. Go on, give it a try and see if you can't get it back to your wand."

Harry willed the weapon to become his wand and was rather surprised when it did. The metal of the sword moved like a smooth liquid and pooled in on itself before becoming an exact replica of his wand. It even adopted the same finish and coloration, making it impossible for Harry to tell it apart from the original. He gave it a few flicks and cast a light spell, nodding in satisfaction when it worked every bit as well as it should have. "Now, that's not really your wand, it just looks like your wand. If someone were to try to break it, they'd be in for a nasty surprise as the Weapon is pretty much unbreakable. I wouldn't suggest you try to parry anything sharp while it looks like a wand, though, as there's no guard and having fingers regrown is painful and takes forever." Jovan grinned at his student's slightly queasy expression.

"Anyway, enough talking. Shift the weapon into a blunt sword and let's try to kill each other for a bit," Jovan declared and the two were shortly engaged in a sparing match that left them both bruised and winded. Harry hadn't been quite as bad as he could have been, but he'd never been trained in any way which meant he had only a small amount of raw talent to rely on.

In the dream world, energy and health were plentiful and both men were whole and rested within the space of half an hour. They went at it twice more on the first day and continued every day after that. Over the course of the month, they drilled with swords, shields, axes, staves, and even matched daggers connected by a thin silvery chain. The weapon was able to shift into just about any form at it's user's command, with little regard for it's starting or ending dimensions, which was something Harry had to file away under "because it's magic".

Jovan intimated that there was the sword was not unique and that, upon his return to reality, Harry would be able to find a second Weapon for Fleur. Thus, there were three copies of the sword floating around in the dream world at any one time. Perhaps the most useful aspect of all was that the weapon could be reduced to a ring or bracelet when not needed. This allowed for a nearly instantaneous drawing of a wand or blade, which might well save their lives one day.

While he and Jovan sweated, the ladies were not idle as Fleur got a crash course on advanced magical theory. Jovan and Gadralla had insisted on training them separately and then allowing them to share the knowledge with each other. After the first few sessions, the wisdom in this approach became apparent as Harry and Fleur naturally learned from each other at an amazing rate.

The only area where this was not true was with Occlumency. The mind shielding aspects of the hidden art might not have been that useful to the Bonded, but the emotional control aspects were critical. There were a few strained weeks as Harry and Fleur both developed raged tempers and fragile moods before they managed to get them under control.

As Harry and Fleur practiced fighting and magic, the very nature of their magic began to change as had been promised. The discovery of being able to perform Veela-style magic drove both Harry and Fleur on to great lengths in training. In addition to Veela fire, they both found they had a great proficiency for "natural" magic, or magic performed without a wand or incantation. They both quickly learned some of the most useful talents in the field, including learning to sense and even see the ebb and flow of magic around them.

Much to their delight, the Veela "intent" which had played havoc with their emotions for the first month proved a great asset once properly harnessed with Occlumency. This meant they had the ability to do pretty much any magic they could normally perform without a wand or incantation. Working without an incantation was NEWTs level magic, and hideously difficult by most estimates. Wandless casting, however, to be highly advanced magic and the number of wizards and witches capable of doing more than the most basic of spells that way was quite small as the wand was a profound focus for intent, even more so than incantations.

Doing things without the proper "tools" took a lot more energy than doing it with them. If the task of casting a spell were compared to moving a heavy boulder, the wand would be a lever and the incantation the fulcrum. Going without either amounted to doing the task with your bare hands. Even with the extra effort involved, simple spells weren't much of a drain and being able to wandlessly summon your wand was so useful that they didn't even consider not practicing it. Also, according to Jovan, draining your magic repeatedly made you grow in strength much faster, so Harry and Fleur made a point to use wands only when learning new magic or trying something particularly taxing. They were exhausted at the end of most days, but they quickly felt a difference in their strength and control and kept with it.

Though the males to test it on were limited, Fleur also found that her magical allure had vanished, and she hadn't been able to rekindle it. Gadralla had nodded knowingly at this and informed them that since Fleur had a permanent mate, the allure was no longer necessary. Some of the Bonded retained the power while others did not. It was one of the more random aspects of their powers. By all measures, Fleur had lost hers, though that fact didn't cause her much grief. Her allure had been responsible for more problems than solutions over the years and she was quite happy with Harry and had no desire to attract another mate.

Harry was surprised to find out exactly how much he benefited from a good instructor as he picked up spell after spell in quick succession. The replenishing nature of the dream world only helped with this since they rarely found they needed to rest during even the most intensive of magic training. Harry's best topic, as always, was combat magic. Fleur's training at Beauxbatons had been more consistent, but it was more oriented toward Charms and Transfiguration than combat. When Jovan pronounced Harry passable with the sword, Jovan took to teaching him combat spells while Gadralla continued to tutor Fleur in theory, charms, and transfiguration. Because they were so easily able to share their knowledge, Harry and Fleur both progressed at a phenomenal rate.

Days went into weeks and weeks went into months as the two of them grew closer together and their power blossomed. Together, they were much stronger than they had ever been apart and Harry already couldn't imagine his life without Fleur. He'd never known love in the real world, but now he both knew and understood that much vaunted emotion. Sometimes, he wondered what was going on outside of their dream world, but they were always so busy living and loving inside of it, he did not spare all that much thought for it.

... BREAK ...

Sometime in the second month, Harry went to give Fleur a kiss and pulled back in surprise. She shot him a questioning look, but he only smiled. "I just realized that I don't have to stand on my toes to kiss you anymore."

Fleur ran a hand through his hair and kissed him thoroughly. "Your hair is also longer," she noted absently when they broke apart. "I have always liked long hair on a man," she admitted with a faint blush coloring her perfect cheeks.

"Do you suppose," Harry began, growing thoughtful, "Do you think that these are some of the changes that Jovan and Gadralla were talking about? I'm becoming more what you want me to be?"

Fleur looked thoughtful and nodded. "I suppose... please, Harry, don't think that I don't like you. It's just... well, when I have always imagined my husband, I thought he would be tall and handsome, with long black hair." She paused and then grinned again, "You're already handsome, so it's just the tall thing and the hair thing that'll change, I suppose."

That answer went a long way toward killing the budding tendril of doubt that had started to form in Harry's mind and he rewarded her with a kiss. Though the conversation ended there, both of them started to notice more changes in each other.

In that first month, Fleur had lost her dismissive and aloof nature, and she was changing in other ways, as well. She was no longer as arrogant as she had been, and she enjoyed English things more. She was easy to laugh, radiated kindness, and became content and easy to satisfy, especially when Harry was near. She hadn't undergone many physical changes, but she had been so close to an ideal woman in the first place, that there was no surprise there.

Similarly, Harry had grown a great deal physically, and his personality had become more mature. That was only the beginning, however, as the remaking would continue over the next several months. Harry grew several more inches in height and his shoulders broadened considerably as he became stronger and more powerful. He wasn't a hulking brute, but he was a lean, athletic physical specimen of a fifteen year old. His hair had quickly grown out to touch his shoulders and then, just as mysteriously, had stopped growing again. While they were being affectionate one evening, Fleur had, only partially in jest, made him promise to consider an earring when they returned to reality. He had grinned at the time, remembering the looks she'd been shooting Bill Weasley and realizing that the French girl had a very different view of what a real man should look like than Harry had grown up with. Not that he minded, of course, because she paid him in a currency that he very much desired. His vision steadily improved, as well, until he found that he no longer needed his glasses to see.

Possibly the most interesting change he underwent was that his scar disappeared. In a weird way, he almost missed the lightning-bolt shaped mark as it had stared back at him in the mirror for so many years, but in other, more forceful ways, he was glad to be rid of it. With it gone, he felt liberated and free in a way that he never had as a child. The face that stared back at him from his mirror wasn't the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. It was the face of Harry Potter, the Tri-Wizard champion, the Bonded mate of the most beautiful women in the world.

Aside from the physical, he was also changing in other ways. He had grown steadily more mature, with a confidence that he'd never had before. Where, before, he might have run from his feelings for Fleur, he loudly proclaimed them at every opportunity. Aside from the romantic, he didn't get depressed or dejected as he once had. No longer did he balk at problems, but rather he tackled all challenges head-on with a self-assured demeanor that held that there were no unsolvable problems, only problems which had not yet been solved.

Fleur's changes were also wonderful to him. He had liked the Fleur he met after the second task, but he positively loved the Fleur she had become. They were compatible on a lever that he had never imagined possible.

Days blurred together as Harry and Fleur trained under two of the most powerful beings either had met. They learned more in a week than they would have in a month in reality, but it always seemed like there was more to learn. The nature of their environment provided them with unique opportunities, as well.

"Fleur, do you know how to apparate?" Jovan had asked one evening after their Occlumency lessons had been completed. When Fleur nodded, Jovan went on. "This dream world is different from reality on many levels. Some of the fundamental laws of magic do not work here. For instance, you can't apparate."

"Apparition is one of the most fundamental skills of wizards and witches. It is an almost reflexive ability that really requires only the most basic of training. You learn to will yourself to another place and POOF," he made a gesture with his hand, flinging his fingers wide, "you're there."

"No one really knows where the ability came from, but I can tell you it's more complex than most give it credit for. To apparate, you do three things. Firstly, you transform your body into a cloud of particles. The particles are magically charged and hang around in your aura pretty consistently. Then you create a tiny, tiny magical gateway and shunt those millions of little bits of you through it to your destination. When you get there, you then transform the cloud of particles back into your body. This all takes less than the blink of an eye to complete, which is why it's reflexive. If it wasn't, few wizards would have the skill to do it," he said.

"Apparition can be tracked by watching for the distinctive magical signature of the portals being opened. It's nearly impossible to tell where the other half of an apparition occurred, but if you are monitoring an area, you can see when someone enters or leaves that area. As I understand it, this is how your Ministry enforces their licensing of apparition," he continued.

"Now, this place is different. Here, you can't open the gateways, which means that, at best, you can transform your body to particles and back. In the real world, if you can't make the gateway, your body won't let you even do that, which is what anti-Apparition wards do by blocking the creation of gateways. Splinching generally occurs when your will is insufficient to hold the gateway open for long enough to put all the particles through. Here... we can trick the process and use it to our advantage. What we're going to do is practice a form of apparition called "flickering". It's similar to apparition, but not the same. On the plus side, it can't be stopped by wards, is silent, and it can be slowed down to leave ones self dissolved for several seconds if needed. On the down side, it's bloody difficult to learn, it only works for taking you to places you can see or otherwise sense, and if you get hit by a spell while you're dissolving or reforming, it can be dangerous."

True to his word, Jovan taught them the technique, but Harry splinched himself several times in the process. As they got better with it, Jovan began to incorporate it into their physical training. The technique was useful, but quite tricky to master. Harry tried flickering around attacks, which was quite easy, until Jovan anticipated his move and nailed him with a stinging hex in mid flicker. This lead to a quite painful splinching and Harry learned to always move when he flickered as a magical attack could still hit him while he was dissolved.

There were other lost techniques, as well, though none so great as that. Eventually, a year had passed and there was a small celebration. In time, another year would pass, and six months more, before anything major changed between Harry and Fleur.

... BREAK ...

Eating in the dream world was something done for fun more than anything else. They didn't get hungry and only rarely needed to sleep. Jovan had explained to them early on that while their minds were occupied in this place, their bodies were being nourished by raw magic. When they did want to eat, it was a simple matter to visit the kitchen where all manner of food was sitting, already prepared. Even the French dishes that Fleur so loved would be sitting there, waiting to be eaten as though this place was reflecting something outside of Paris rather than Scotland.

Thus it was that Harry gathered up enough food for a dozen people, using a simple charm to shrink it and placing it in the picnic basket that the dream had so graciously provided. He then shrank the basket itself and stuffed it into one of his pockets before going to find his mate. Doing so was almost trivial, as a second of concentration gave him a general idea of her direction, her mood, and her health. It made surprising her difficult since she had the same sense for him, though he had a number of things in store for her tonight that would probably fulfill that goal. The picnic was one. The item currently resting in his breast pocket was another.

In any case, he did his best to approach the classroom where Fleur and Gadralla were practicing invisibility charms. He knocked on the door and made a big show of looking at his wrist. Fleur gave him a strange look because he wasn't actually wearing a watch. Gadralla gave him a strange look because she didn't know what a watch was and thus didn't understand the gesture in the first place. Needless to say, both women looked at him like he was a little barmy.

"Excuse me, ladies. It's getting late and I was wondering if Fleur might do the honor of accompanying me on a walk around the castle this evening?" he asked in a voice filled with false pomp.

His mate grinned and sidled over to him before casting a glance back to Gadralla. "We're finished, aren't we?"

Harry almost laughed at the faintly pleading note in her voice. Fleur really had changed a lot since they'd kissed, even moreso than the fact that she was now nineteen would have otherwise indicated. "Of course, dear. Have fun," the older woman said with a knowing wink to Harry. She was in on what he was about to do as he'd had to enlist Jovan's assistance with the planning. Harry winked back and led his mate out of the room, arm in arm.

Together, they wandered the castle for a little while, pausing every so often to steal a kiss or three, but generally just enjoying being with each other. They talked about what was going on with their training, though it was not much of a topic since they did very similar things each day. However, they enjoyed the sound of each other's voices and kept up the discussion for some time, saving for quick breaks to steal kisses.

The sun had set on the dream world by the time they reached the base of the Astronomy Tower. Harry pulled Fleur up the steps without explaining. She kept asking him where they were going, but he mischievously admonished her and declared that it was a surprise.

When they finally reached the top, Harry pulled out the picnic basket and enlarged it. Inside was a blanket, which he spread over the hard stone, and a number of candles. A quick spell set the candles alight, and another enlarged a handful of tasseled cushions which went out as seats. "My lady," he declared with a flourish, indicating for her to sit on one of the plush seats. She laughed lightly at him and did as directed while he brought out the courses of a feast, one by one, along with Fleur's favorite wine.

They sat and laughed and ate for quite a while. When the food was finished, Harry vanished the remains of it and they kissed for a while in the candlelight and moonlight. After a while, they broke apart, laughing, and Fleur took a seat on one of the large blocks of stone which ringed the top of the tower. Harry smiled, his hand deftly plucking a small box from his pocket as he advanced on her.

"Fleur Delacour," he started, sinking down to one knee before her causing her eyes and mouth to go wide. "I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my wife?" With that, he produced the box and opened it to reveal the ring inside. It had taken him quite a while to find a suitable ring, though this one was only a product of the dream world. It was a copy of the ring that Gadralla wore. In fact, it was the same ring. Jovan had revealed to him that the ring remained in Hogwarts in the real world and he and Gadralla declared that they would be honored for him to present it to Fleur as well. It was another of the scant few items that could be claimed by a descendent of Jovan Gryffindor.

Her response nearly sent both of them flying from the tower, which Harry didn't really want to think about. Falling wouldn't have been fun, but since the entire world was a half-reality, they probably would have survived. "So... that's a yes?" he gasped out as he tried to make sense of the rapid French babbling in his chest.

She pulled back and looked at him with happy tears in her eyes. "Oui! That is a yes!"

And then she kissed him for all she was worth, which was quite a lot, in Harry's estimation. The kiss set both of their bodies afire with desire and, for the first time between them, their evening became purely clothing optional. The blanket was hit with several wandless cushioning charms and saw an originally unintended purpose as Harry and Fleur walked the road to manhood and womanhood, respectively. That is, Harry became a man and Fleur became a woman. It could have worked the other way around, but that would have been weird and would likely have required some interesting potions work.

... BREAK ...

The end of the third year saw both Harry and Fleur happy, healthy, and quite powerful. The incredible rate at which they had been able to learn had exhausted their Mentors' knowledge of normal magic and were studying the more esoteric arts of Harry's ancestors. Jovan was an artificer of great skill and taught Harry about the crafting of magical artifacts and the lesser discipline of potion brewing. Gadralla was an enchantress and taught Fleur about the enchantment of magical items and the creation of permanent spells. Her arts complimented Jovan's well, and together, they had been the ones to forge Gryffindor's Weapon, as well as many of the most complicated artifacts in Hogwarts. Either art would make Harry and Fleur wealthy in the wizarding world, but possessing both skills would increase that potential greatly.

While this study was ongoing, both Harry and Fleur had, essentially, graduated from their other training. After six months of training, either of them would have easily rated an O on the DADA and charms NEWTS. After the first year, Transfiguration and Potions could have been added to that list and their abilities with charms and curses would have gotten them quite far in Auror training. Harry had caught up to his current year in both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which Jovan joking referred to as just "Runes", as Harry fully intended to never take another day of Divination in his life. At the end of that second year, their knowledge was approximately equal to that of an Auror fresh out of training, though they had been taught a number of lost techniques and spells which would have given them an edge over even that level. Not to mention the edge granted by their massive raw strength and command of natural magic.

Another year of training showed even greater results and put them into the top one hundred living wizards in terms of overall knowledge, though the gap between the top and bottom of that list was staggering. The only thing they lacked was the ease that only came from years upon years of practice and application. Unfortunately, that practice could only come with time and would prove a deciding factor in some of the battles they might face.

In additional to the magical, they'd both learned physical fighting techniques, though only Harry had taken the trouble to learn to fight with a sword. Fleur favored the chained dagger form of her weapon, though it wasn't as flashy as Harry's style. Her training was more of the "stab them quickly and get away" sort than the straight out fighting that Harry was prepared for. Jovan had told them about his hidden rooms in Gryffindor tower, where the real world version of Fleur's engagement ring was hidden. Jovan indicated that one of the predecessors of the Weapon of Gryffindor should still be there, as well. It didn't function have the same range as the weapon which had been called the Sword of Gryffindor, as the larger weapon forms were beyond its reach, but it could handle being a wand or a pair of chained daggers well enough. Since Fleur favored the smaller weapons, in any case, it would likely serve her well.

As their instruction wound down, the four of them began to relax more and talk about the future. Harry and Fleur needed to come up with a plan for when they returned home. Jovan was able to check outside their small bubble and informed them that a little less than six weeks had passed for their three years inside the dream world. That would place them back in reality a little past Harry's birthday, giving them two and a half weeks before the start of the next Hogwarts term.

Going back to Hogwarts was what worried Harry most. Fleur's rather disastrous last year of schooling and sudden disappearance meant that she had never gotten to sit her NEWTs. She was more than ready to take them, of course, but there was a matter of actually getting the chance. For that matter, Harry would have done well on the exams, given a chance. Fleur could probably find a job in the meantime, since being in the tournament was likely to give her a little leverage, but the thought of being apart from Harry for so long threatened to make her physically ill. Harry didn't think it would do much good for him to be apart from her, either, and voiced his desire for the two of them to remain together at all costs.

The big wildcard in the mix was Dumbledore. Though Harry was, physically and mentally, eighteen, he would not be considered that age in the real world, which left him without control of his financial and legal affairs. Due to this, he was, more or less, at the mercy of the Headmaster for what he was allowed to do. In general terms, Harry could probably affect an escape from whatever confinement he found himself in, but he didn't want Fleur to have to live like a fugitive despite her protestations that she would go anywhere that Harry did.

All of this culminated in Harry desperately trying to figure out how he was going to find a place for Fleur at Hogwarts. With her recent tutelage, she was probably qualified to instruct Defense, but Harry wasn't sure he wanted to risk her on that. Defense teachers always seemed to be haunted by misfortune. It seemed safer to have her somehow enroll as a student, though it would be much more boring for her. As she hadn't yet taken her NEWTs, that was likely to be an achievable plan. In the end, Harry decided he would use as much leverage as he could on Dumbledore and let the man come up with the plan. If the worst came, he could always run away to France for a couple of years. The two of them were quite capable of disappearing, even without resorting to fleeing to the Muggle world.

After a few last days of discussion and planning, Harry and Fleur said a tearful goodbye to their mentors and returned to the lake shore where they had first appeared and embraced each other. Jovan had told them they must declare their bond complete before they would be able to return to reality. He'd quietly let Harry know that he was free to embellish his declaration as much as he wanted, which had given the young man a few ideas.

His voice, now stronger and more masculine than it had been, broken the silence as he spoke, "Fleur, my life, my love. I declare my bond with you, now and forever, to be complete. Let us never face a day without looking upon each other. I want you to know that I love you, with ever ounce of my being today, tomorrow, and always."

From the look on her face and the tears welling in her eyes, Harry knew he'd managed to do the right thing with his words. He'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right thing to say and thought he'd done a passable job with it. She whispered back, "I love you, too, 'Arry. I don't have such beautiful words ready for you, but I promise that I will show you how I feel as soon as we can find a moment alone together," she purred the last and Harry felt a stirring inside him that made him want to ravish her right there. Instead, he held himself in check and allowed her to complete. "The bond we have formed is now complete."

They managed to start to kiss before the world changed again, blossoming into warm green light.

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