Harry Potter Breaking Free

Less than an hour later, the French Auror Service had come and gone, and for the most part, the investigation was complete.

As it turns out, the mercenary who'd been standing watch in the hallway outside of the Entry Hall was the elder brother of a part time cleaner. The man's brother had worked for the Delacours off and on for about six months now, and he'd stolen the placards a few days earlier.

A warrant was being sent out for the ex-cleaner's arrest.

When scrutinized under Priori Incantatum spells, the mercenaries' wands all revealed that they'd performed many illegal and dangerous spells, further confirming their guilt. That was a good thing too, since the Aurors weren't all that impressed with Harry's less than detailed recounting of his involvement.

Which made sense…

In an attempt to keep matters from being a humongous spectacle, Harry tried to portray the mercenaries as poorly trained and easily bested. Unfortunately, no one believed him. It seemed the Aurors present knew these men, so they knew that Harry was oversimplifying his story in the extreme. They also gave him some very pointed looks when he'd handed over a wand that was burned to its core and falling apart.

"You used this wand?" The Auror who asked the question looked disbelieving.

"Yes. It was of poor compatibility and didn't last long," Harry replied.

"If it was that bad a compatibility to you, then how did you manage to get it to do anything?" The Auror was arching his eyebrows and clearly didn't believe a single word that Harry was saying.

Harry just shrugged in response. "A few stunning spells and such, nothing major... I don't remember very well because it all happened very fast."

Adrien interposed himself on Harry's behalf and squared up against the Aurors. "Harry here saved the lives of my entire family today... Can we not nit-pick small details like this?"

After just a few seconds' hesitation, the Auror backed off out of respect for Adrien, but he did end up giving Harry another disbelieving look before he turned away. A situation that was made even more awkward, when the Auror was forced to make five separate Floo trips to remove the seven unconscious mercenaries and the diseased merc leader from their home.

Harry approached Adrien while cleaning his newly healed hands with a wet paper towel. "Can you confer my apologies to Appoline for skipping lessons today? I'm going to meditate out in the nice weather for a while." Harry shrugged with a look of chagrin on his face. "I've gotten in the habit of staying on top of these kinds of memories, now that I'm able to. I'll be outside working on my tan."

Adrien nodded and smiled at the teenaged hero. "I'll tell her, Harry, but before you go... You once told me you owed my family a debt for services rendered. We are even now, I should think. Harry... What you did today... was the single most amazing act of bravery I have ever seen in my life."

At first, Harry looked a little embarrassed, but after a few moments passed, he finally nodded his understanding. He also accepted Adrien's clap on the shoulder.

"Now, you may go get your brain squared away," Adrien drawled while gesturing out the door. "Don't worry. I'll keep Gabrielle occupied."

Harry smiled at Adrien, who really was good people, before walking towards the house's back doors. Not even a minute later, he'd made his escape to the backyard, where he was confronted by a truly beautiful summer's day. The day was sunny and warm but not too warm and Harry thought that it was all very interesting. He finally decided that English weather is always suitable for violence and death. All this sun on the other hand, was counter to his current mood. Then again, as he looked at the sunbathed, beautiful landscape all around him, Harry decided that he couldn't complain.

Over the following fifteen minutes, Harry entered his Mindscape, where he quickly found the one medium gray memory book that was laying around unsorted. After reliving his actions from earlier, Harry filed the memory away under violent and traumatizing, in a vault in his library. He wouldn't forget his actions but the memory was kept far away from his subconscious. He didn't want to give himself gray hairs or an ulcer later by neglecting to deal with bad memories.

When Harry came out of his meditation, it was to the feeling of long smooth hair against the back of his neck, a warm back pressing against his own and a strong allure blasting against his consciousness like the heat from a furnace. Fleur clearly... Gabrielle might get close to him right now, but the allure... "Are you by any chance attempting to distract me from my brooding by giving me a nosebleed?" Harry had asked the question as casually as he could, but he was also being serious. His body was currently doing some very dramatic things, because of the allure coupled with the feeling of Fleur's back against his own.

"No... I'm not consciously doing anything with my allure right now," replied a beautiful voice from behind Harry. "Your magic is everywhere right now, 'Arry. It's filling the entire property, and since it's making me lose control, I came here to its source…"

Harry only realized in that moment that Fleur was right. He was actively campusing the entire property with his magic and keeping an eye on everything. He was surprised by Fleur's reaction though. His magic shouldn't have bothered Fleur, because it was so widespread and thin. Harry arched an eyebrow unseen by Fleur.

"I see... You're reacting to it still," Harry hedged in a carefully neutral tone of voice. "To be honest, when I first figured this out, I was hoping that it would be an improvement for you. My magic's spread so thin right now, it's barely visible even to my own senses. Granted, it's still an invasion of your privacy, but I thought I'd become more... subtle."

At the tail end of his words, Harry suddenly dragged his aura shroud as close to his body as he could, and he felt Fleur shiver into his back at the sudden influx of his magic. He also felt the amount of allure that she was releasing increase, even as its effect on his body decreased. Harry's magic made Fleur's allure leak out of her body, that much wasn't new… What was new was Fleur's ability to sense trace amounts of his magic, and it had him dying with curiosity. "Hey… Fleur… How do you still feel my presence when my magic is spread so thin?"

When Fleur shrugged again, Harry could feel the movement against his back. "I am no expert in magics never before seen on this planet, 'Arry. I felt you spike your power as soon as you entered the house, and I could follow your movements while you decimated those goons. I was an obedient damsel in distress. I allowed you to swoop in to save me. I truly resent and dislike you for saving me, of course, but only because I felt powerless and weak while it was happening."

When Fleur was finished delivering her explanation, the two of them simply sat there together for a good long while...

"I wonder if I will ever have an uncomplicated emotion regarding you, 'Arry." Fleur's voice was very, very quiet, but the question sounded genuine.

....

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