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Chapter 15 - General, Comte and Comtesse

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 30th July 2001 AD
Country: France - The French Riviera - Marseeleveyre Mountains
Location: Chateau Delacour
Time: Morning

At around nine O'clock the next day Fleur awoke to the feel of something warm against her face.

Opening her eyes she turned to look at what the object was, only to discover that it was in fact Harry's chest.

He was looking down at her pleasantly and at a guess she would say that he had probably been waiting for her to awaken before moving, both of his hands were draped around her lightly while her own had lain beside her head on Harry's chest.

His face showed confidence and contentment, there was no hint of shyness or embarrassment that she was sure he would have felt just yesterday.

"Good morning."

"Morning? Vhat happened?"

He removed one of his arms and picked up a piece of paper from beside the bed.

Handing it to her she read the French half; the English was of course for Harry's benefit, she was glad it had been written in both languages as while she could speak fluent English, albeit with a strong accent, she could not even spell 'My name is Fleur' in the strange language without the help of a translation charm.

Fleur

You and Harry both passed out from exhaustion shortly after the procedure, after checking that you were ok we decided to leave you and let you both recover.

Viktor will be staying over night to check on you in the morning.

Father

She placed the piece of paper on the sideboard and looked up at Harry.

"Ow are you?"

"A lot better....thanks to you."

"I didn't do anything." she said smiling, wondering how he always managed to make people feel like they were worth their weight in gold.

"Yes you did, you helped me see that I was not to blame, you helped me to see the people really responsible, you showed my your mind, if I had done something wrong I could have accidentally destroyed yours....no one had ever showed me that level of trust before, not even Ron and Hermione and they trust me more than anyone else....what annoys me, is that there is no way I can ever thank you for what you did."

It had not occurred to Fleur that Harry could damage her mind; she had just done what was necessary to help him, but if she had realised....she would still have done it.

"You owe me nothing." she said shyly, the new Harry was far too charming "I once owed you a great debt, so now ve are equal."

"What debt?" he asked confused.

Some of the light left her eyes as she remembered that day.

"During the Trivizard Tournament, during ve Zecond Task, you remember vat my zister was my hoztage."

"Gabrielle, yes I remember."

"Vhat vas zuppozed to happen vas vat they vould be plazed under a zleeping charm and a breathing charm, ven taken into ve lake and given to ve Merpeople."

Harry noticed how she almost spat out the last word; he nodded for her to continue.

"It iz not commonly known vat Veela and Merpeople are at var, and ave been for several zenturies."

Harry's eyebrow rose.

"Although ve rarely engage in combat any more, ve do not really maintain the best of relationshipz. Ve Merpeople in your lake decided to let my zister have an accident, allowing ve zpells that kept er alive to fail, causing er to wake up, terrified by the zight of our vorst enemy and ven drown er."

Her voice began to fluctuate and Harry tightened his arms around her.

"I only dizcovered vat I vould be fazing ve Merpeople a few hourz before ve tournament."

"I thought Madam Maxime would have helped you?" commented Harry.

"She did, but only vhen she realized that I vould not be able to do it by myself, she told me vat I vould be going undervater, so I figured out how to breath down vere, on the night before task it occurred to me that the egg might zound different undervater. I took a bath to relax myself before ve task, vhen I eard ve message, I realized vat vas going to happen. I went to my zisters room in the carriage, it vas empty, I vent to Madam Maxime telling er vhat I ad dizcovered. Ve both vent straight to Dumbledore's Office to object....but it vas to late, she vaz already in ve lake."

She paused for a moment, the memory causing her pain.

"Ve whole of ve night and ve morning I vas terrified about that vey might do to er....and vhen I vas forzed out of ve task, I vas frantic, I thought vat I ad killed my zister." she tightened her grip on him and he responded comfortingly.

"Ven ve miracle appened, you rezcued er, a vourteen year old boy who I had accuzed of being 'too young' to even appear in ve Tournament ad beaten me and not only zaved iz own hoztage, but ad zaved my zister az vell."

Harry nodded his understanding, now it made sense to him why Fleur had been so frantic about her sister when he had emerged from the lake.

"Well in that case, we'll call it equal." he said with a smile.

She reached up and gave him another kiss on the cheek before beaming at him.

They laid there for several minutes, neither of them really noticing that they were still entwined.

They eventually climbed out of the bed; Fleur went back to her room to freshen up while Harry changed into something other than a pair of creased trousers.

Donning another pair of black trousers that had been left for him, accompanied by a matching black shirt, leaving the top to buttons undone and a pair of black shoes and socks.

A few minutes later just after he had finished in the bathroom there was a knock at the door, opening he saw Fleur, her hair washed and combed straight, hanging over both shoulders, she was dressed in a fresh set of light blue robes (similar to those worn at Beauxbatons) and looked at him complimenting his choice of attire.

"You look....nice." he said shyly.

"Vank you, you don't look too bad either." she returned smiling "It iz definitely good to zee you out of that bed now vat you are vell."

She tactfully did not mention the fact that he was as thin as a rake and that it looked like he could be knocked over by the slightest breeze.

"Thank you."

She linked her arm through his and led him out of his room, subtly ensuring that his lack of muscle did not cause him to collapse. They went along a corridor and down several flights of stairs, the Chateau was decorated warmly in reds, gold's, yellows and oranges, upon reaching the ground floor, she led him towards a pair of thick double doors, as they approached they opened revealing two people going through papers in a large sitting room.

The room was decorated in the same colours as the halls and staircases and there was a warming fire in the large hearth which he suspected was charmed not to give out heat as it was fairly warm in this part of France.

As they entered the couple rose, the male was slightly taller than Harry at around six foot, with green eyes and dark brown hair reaching to his shoulders, if he had been shorted with less hair and a scar he could have accused of being one of his relatives, He gave the impression of confidence and power (not the magic kind, but the kind that means you know how to pull peoples strings).

The women showed a remarkable similarity to the beautiful Veela on his arm, her silver hair fell passed her shoulders; she was the same height as Fleur and had the same deep blue eyes, they could easily have been called sisters.

"Now you ave recovered I can introduze you properly, Arry Potter meet my father Comte Dimitri Delacour,"

Harry released Fleur's arm and moved forward to shake hands with the man, he had a strong grip and thought it only polite to give him a slight bow as well as he shook hands."

"Comte."

"Mr Potter, please, after what you have done for our youngest you can call me Dimitri."

"That applies for me as well." said the woman

"You vant I'm to call you Dimitri as vell?" asked Fleur with a smile.

Both her parents raised their eyebrows at their daughters humour.

"Thank you," Harry interjected "But only if you call me Harry."

Dimitri turned away from his daughter with a smile and directed Harry towards his wife.

"My mother," continued Fleur "Comtesse Delphine Delacour."

She extended her hand "Harry." She greeted.

He kissed the back of her hand, some of Fleur's memories in manners telling him how to act.

"My La....Delphine." He corrected, releasing her hand.

"It is good to see that you have recovered Harry, after what you have been through we were beginning to wonder if we had lost you."

"Thank you for taking care of me, I owe you my life and I wish there was some way to repay you for what you have done for me."

"Arry," scolded Fleur "We ave been through vat."

"Oh, right, sorry."

"Dear, why don't you learn English properly?" asked Dimitri.

"Because my azzent iz zexy," replied Fleur "Izn't it Arry?"

Harry gulped a couple of times, his eyes flicking between Fleur and her parents; luckily he was saved from answering by being barrelled over by a blue and blond bullet.

"Harry!"

Managing to sit himself up from the position he had been rather uncomfortably thrown into, looking down he could see a young blond in a pale blue uniform hugging his waist.

"It is nice to see you too Gabrielle." said Harry with a groan as he attempted unsuccessfully to get up with the blond girl still attached to him, looking up he could see the female Delacour's stifling laughs while Dimitri just shook his head at his daughters antics.

Eventually Dimitri took pity on Harry.

"Gabrielle, let our guest get up, he is not going to go anywhere just because you let go of him."

Gabrielle looked up at Harry and blushed before slowly backing off, still wearing an enormous smile on her face.

"Thank you." he mouthed to Dimitri as he took the offered hand.

"Why are you here Harry?" asked Gabrielle brightly "Shouldn't you be enjoying the summer with your family."

Seeing the uncomfortable look on the others faces, he could tell that they had not told her why he was there.

"Honey...." began Delphine "He...."

"Your sister invited me," Harry jumped in "After tasting the Hogwarts menu she thought I should try some 'real food'." Thankfully Harry recalled how much Fleur disliked the Hogwarts menu.

The Delacour's sent him thank you looks.

"So you're staying a while?" Gabrielle beamed.

Harry sent another look at the other three; they were all nodding, resolve evident on their faces.

"Yes, for a while at...." he did not get the chance to finish as Gabrielle squealed and jumped back on him, luckily this time someone was behind him to stop his fall.

Managing to disentangle himself from Gabrielle once again he turned around to see Viktor Krum standing over him.

"Harry."

"Viktor."

"It is nice to see you again." greeted the Bulgarian Seeker engulfing Harry in a manly hug, unusually for a seeker he was not only tall but also very well built, Harry was surprised he did not feel a few bones snap....again.

Releasing him, Viktor stood back and examined him.

"What have you been eating," he asked jokingly "Your all skin and bones."

"Seekers are supposed to be small." he countered with a grin.

"Small yes, but you're as thin as a broomstick....you're on you're way to being no thicker than a wand."

"And speaking of your size," interjected Delphine with a sly smile, understanding how that could be interpreted "I suggest we have breakfast."
________________________________________________________________________

Breakfast was a fairly informal affair; the Delacour's all helped themselves to croissants, while Harry and Viktor both had a little taste of home, Viktor receiving pancakes and Harry got a full English breakfast, albeit a small one as he was still a bit fragile (plus the fact he had not eaten for a week, discounting the liquids that he had been given to him intravenously while he was unconscious).

Harry had to avoid laughing at the various reactions his meal was getting; Fleur and her mother were looking at it as though it should belong in a dogs bowl, Dimitri and Viktor were hardly concerned at all, while Gabrielle who had positioned herself in the chair next to Harry kept asking if she could try bits (much to her mother and sisters disapproval), she was only eleven so Harry was not surprised.

Harry was surprised to learn that the Delacour's used both House Elves and wizards and witches as staff. They had a butler, several maids and about a dozen House Elves; with the human staff doing most of the interactive work, while the Elves did the hidden jobs.

During the meal they discussed what had happened to the other two champions since they had last seen each other.

Fleur had gone to work at Gringotts, which Harry already knew, though she did not really enjoy the work, especially not since she and Bill had spilt up.

Krum on the other hand had been very busy, since the tournament he had taken up Quidditch full time, begun exercising the Muggle way, had been learning DADA (as of course they didn't actually teach it at Durmstrang) as well as becoming a competent Occlumens and Legilimens.

After that they discussed what the Delacour's did for a living, Harry was surprised to find out that Dimitri was lined up as a possibility for the next French Minister of Magic.

It surprised Harry to learn that the French Minister was not elected from the Ministry, but from a group called 'Le Conseil De Puissance', The Council of Power, consisting of Dimitri, several other important French nobles, influential businessmen and a selection of elected ordinary wizards.

Between them they more or less controlled France via the Ministry, they make the important decisions while the Ministry handles the routine work, the elected Minister controls both the Council and the Ministry.

Apart from being a member of the council, Dimitri also played the Wizarding and Muggle stock markets and between him and his wife they had a fortune that made Harry's bank faults look like a child's pocket money.

Harry was beginning to feel more and more inadequate.

After the meal they managed to get rid of Gabrielle by promising to her that Harry would speak more to her later, they gathered in the Sitting room, Dimitri and Delphine sitting in a pair of armchairs by the fire, Viktor sitting opposite them in the corner of one sofa and Harry and Fleur on the other.

"Harry," begun Dimitri "We did have a slight ulterior motive when we asked Fleur to bring you here, we know a war is coming, a battle is inevitable....but we haven't picked a side yet."

Harry straightened up "You mean you may side with Voldemort?"

"NO." exclaimed Delphine sharply, while the others all gasped at the thought "No, definitely not, what my husband means is while we want to fight on the good side....we don't trust their General."

"Dumbledore." nodded Harry, understanding what they meant.

"Unlike Dumbledore we trust you," explained Dimitri "And as a result we pledge our support to you in the war."

Harry froze, he then attempted to speak several times which ended up with him merely opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

"Can you....can you say that again...I think I must have misheard you."

"We want you to be our General." explained Delphine.

They all looked at him expectantly.

"You lot haven't been drinking have you?"

They chuckled.

"No Arry, ve are seriouz, ve truzt you to do thiz."

"I'm not even sixteen yet."

"You vill be tomorrow," continued Fleur "And I fully intend to take you out to try zome real food as a birthday treat."

"Surely it makes more sense for Dimitri to be the General, he is the influential adult."

"Yez, but the prophezy sayz he iz not the vone who az to defeat Voldemort."

Harry's eyes snapped to her almost making her recoil.

"How did you know that?" he demanded.

"Contrary to what Dumbledore believes," began Dimitri with a smile, pulling Harry's eyes off of his daughter "There was another witness to the prophecy, I managed to buy the information then obliterated it from his memory, leaving him with a very large and mysterious bank balance."

"And what have you done with that information?" asked Harry cautiously, while subconsciously fingering his wand through the material of his pocket.

"For the last fifteen years not much," explained Dimitri "That is to say, not much that can be seen, but now we have a chance to act and we have no intention of letting A. Voldemort take over the world or B. Dumbledore ruin our chance of freedom by mucking up the war. Thusly we need to take a pivotal role and Dumbledore does not trust us enough to let us do that. That is why we need to form a third group, a group that fights against the Death Eaters but more effectively than the Order of the Phoenix....A group led by you."

"They are right Harry." said Viktor "This war is the reason that I have been training so hard, because I knew that I would have to pick a side and after hearing about Gabrielle I knew that side was not Dumbledore's."

"We have not been inactive all these years if that is what you are thinking," continued Delphine "We have been planning, seeing who we could persuade to join us when the time came, that sort of thing....All we need now is a leader and you are the perfect candidate. Your noble, loyal and caring, you know how to fight; only you can defeat Voldemort, you are one of the few people that Voldemort fears, your name and deeds earn you respect and in believing that you do not possess the skills to do this it proves that you are the exact person for this." finished Delphine smugly.

They sat in silence for a minute while Harry digested the information. Just two days ago he would have said no, he didn't want the responsibility, he didn't want all those people relying on him, but now....now he was a different person, he was no longer the Harry that would let himself get pushed around, he was no longer the Harry that blindly followed orders, this was the Harry that wanted to fight and win.

"Ok, let's do it."

"Excellent, I...." Fleur began but was cut of sharply by a bell ringing, seconds later the fire flared green.

"Some one is trying to contact us," explained Fleur rapidly as she exited the room "Quickly, Harry, Viktor, behind the sofas."

Viktor literally dived off his seat and pulled himself and Harry over the top of one of the sofas, only to fall to the ground with a painful thump.
________________________________________________________________________

Bill Weasley was exhausted; he had spent the past four hours throwing Floo Powder at the Burrows damn fireplace, contacting everyone that the Order knew.

It had started six hours previously when Tonks, Charlie, Moody and Kingsley had arrived back at Order head quarters looking extremely frantic, it turned out that Fleur had been correct, they should not have waited, Harry was missing and according to his relatives they had not seen him since the 25th which is....which was five days previously and thanks to all the running around they had just crossed into day six.

As soon as they returned, the Order went onto high alert, every contact, every hiding place, every....In fact there was no place the Order could think Harry could be, they knew he couldn't have been taken by Death Eaters, as Death Eaters would have blasted the door and killed his family. In addition there were no signs of battle, which meant either Harry went voluntarily or he was unable to fight back.

He had only six more people to contact, he was currently contacted all those who had contacts of their own and was now working his way towards the end of that list, next was Fleur, throwing the powder into the fire he called out the address.

He waited momentarily as they unlocked the fireplace before moving his head nearer.

"William," Delphine greeted "What a nice surprise, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company."

"Unfortunately Delphine we do not have time to joke....Harry Potter had gone missing."

"Vhat?" exclaimed Fleur marching into the room.

"Morning Fleur and you heard me right, Harry has disappeared."

"I knew it, I did zay vat ve should ave gone to ave got im immediately, didn't I say."

"Yes Fleur, you were right, but we can not worry about that now. Dimitri, Dumbledore would like to request that you have a covert snoop around the French Ministry, see if they know anything."

"I'll get on it immediately William." said Dimitri putting down a handful of financial papers, everyone in the room knew that Dumbledore probably hadn't phrased it as a requests but they would co-operate anyway "I'll contact you if hear anything."

"Thank you, I would stop and tell you more but I have dozens more people to contact yet, Fleur, can you fill them in I need to get going."

"Of courze, good bye and good luck."

"To both of us." he replied.

The green flame died and the fireplace locked behind him.
________________________________________________________________________

Getting up awkwardly, Harry took a hold of his formerly broken arm and managed to lever himself up."

"What's wrong Harry," asked Viktor "As a Seeker you must have taken harder dives than that."

"Yes, but normally I don't play after I have just had a broken arm and Wizard Flu."

"Ah right, sorry."

Fleur moved to Harry's side and aided him as he sat back down on the sofa.

"Who does Dumbledore think he is," ranted Delphine "Ordering you to snoop around for him."

"I'd better ask around anyway or they will get suspicious, if you will excuse me." said Dimitri standing and walking out of the room.

After her husbands departure Delphine turned to Harry.

"I suggest that you send a letter to Dumbledore to tell him you are ok and are not in danger."

"I suppose I should, I am tempted to let him stew for a bit," said Harry with an evil smile "But that would be unfair to everyone else, I will write later today otherwise it would look like I know they have just discovered I am missing."

"Good idea Harry....Well, now that you are well again we need to build your fitness up, what special training were you receiving before your illness?"

"Well err...." Harry began, special training, what special training "Oh yes, Snape was teaching me Occlumency until he through me out and....oh Remus taught me the Patronus Charm in my third year."

The others sat there waiting for him to continue before Delphine said.

"Is....is that....all?" she sputtered.

"Yes, kind of."

"You mean you ave had no spezial training." continued Fleur.

"No, not really."

Fleur leaped to her feat almost whacking Harry's arm as she went.

"Vhen I zee that Dumbledore next, I'm going to....I'm going to....Arrr!" she exclaimed in frustration, slumping back to the seat in frustration.

"That is the first order of business then," began Viktor "Getting you trained up. As soon as I consult with the Occlumens Council and they verify that I am skilled enough to teach others, I will begin instructing you in Occlumency and Legilimency, I will also start taking you on morning runs and putting you through the Bulgarian Quidditch Team training schedule."

"I can contact some friends of ours, along with a few people who owe us favours, we can get your magic trained up, as well as teaching you how to duel." continued Delphine.

"We only have five weeks before I have to return to Hogwarts," Harry pointed out "There is no way I can learn all that in five weeks."

"I have had an idea about that," said Viktor slowly "But it is not exactly legal."

"I'm not going to like this am I." said Harry worriedly.

"Unlikely." said Fleur smiling.

"What is your idea?" asked Delphine.