FicWad

Chapter 42 - Fleur's Unforgivable

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 18th August 2001 AD
Country: France
Location: ?
Time: Early Morning

In a forest, somewhere in the South of France stands a lone figure.

He is dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a shirt with a leather jacket over the top, to the casual observer he appears perfectly ordinary except for the lightning shaped scar on his forehead and the piece of wood gripped between the fingers of his right hand.

The fog swirls around him as a jet of red light flies out of the mist.

He dives sideways, rolling as he hits the ground to cushion the impact before spinning around to fire his own burst of red light back into the mist.

A thud is heard from the direction that the spell emanated from.

Harry's eyes dart around, searching for any movement.

Jumping to his feet he sidestepped the curse coming from behind him before whirling around and throwing a curse back.

The Death Eater raised a shield, deflecting the curse before firing a pair of curses back at him.

Turning sideways, Harry let the curses pass on either side of him before firing a punching curse followed by a full-body bind.

The Death Eaters shield shattered at the first, knocking him off his feet, sending him falling to the ground, his body going rigid from the second attack before he even hit the forest floor.

Scanning the area again Harry began to move through the forest, several times he heard rustlings on either side of him, but nothing that gave him cause for action.

Behind him he heard the sound of rapidly flattened leaves as someone or something came charging through the undergrowth.

He spun around, his wand coming to bare, a curse already on his lips.

He cut his words short as he saw the familiar form of Fleur come into view, her wand also pointed in precaution before raising it upon seeing him.

They both sighed and turned their attention back to the problem of escaping the forest.

Harry took the lead, with Fleur following close behind.

They entered a clearing, it seemed at least ten metres in diameter but the fog made it hard to tell.

They heard the sounds of curses being shouted from either side of them, both ducked as green jets of light flew over their heads before colliding with the enemies on the opposing side sending several to meet their maker.

Harry spun to take the enemies to the left while Fleur spun to the right.

They fired simultaneously, each sending curses into the mist, causing shouts of alarm from the edges of the clearing.

Seeing a jet of purple light heading his way, Harry threw up a shield in time to deflect the spell back at the enemy.

A thump could be heard from the forest edge, similar noises were heard behind him as Fleur finished cursing.

He turned his head so he could see her out of his peripheral vision.

She turned to him and nodded before they both stood.

Harry sighed and turned back in the direction they had been travelling.
"Expelliarmus." Came a voice from behind him as his wand flew out of his hand.

He turned to see his mate aiming both wands at him.

"Fleur?"

She grinned evilly.

"Crucio!"

The world went black.
________________________________________________________________________

"Arry?....Arry?"

Harry groaned as he came back to consciousness.

"Arry, are you awake."

His vision came back into focus in time to see Fleur leaning over him concerned.

"Stay back." He warned, pushing her away, causing her to fall backwards.

"Arry?" she asked uncertain and hurt.

"Harry," came Adam's voice "That wasn't Fleur, it was an illusion remember."

It suddenly came back to Harry, he had been testing their skill, it wasn't real, he hadn't been in the forest, he hadn't even left the training room.

"Yes....yes, I remember....I so sorry Fleur." He said worriedly to his mate, seeing the fragile look on her face.

"Arry....what did you see?" she asked uncertainly.

"He saw you turn on him then cast the torture curse on him." Explained Adam.

She looked to Adam then back to Harry in shock, before diving forward and hugging him to her tightly.

Harry had a moment's uncertainty before he felt her pain at his reaction down the link and returned the embraced.

After several seconds she pulled back just far enough so that she could look him in the eyes and took his face in her hands.

"Arry....I will never do anything to hurt you.....never."

"I know Fleur," he smiled weakly "I know, it just shocked me that's all."

She leaned in and kissed him before pulling back and turning angrily on Adam.

"Why did you make him see that?" she demanded, standing and moving towards him.

"I was giving him his first lesson," replied Adam calmly, not reacting to her angry expression "If you recall your illusion, you underwent the same test."

"You saw me cast an unforgivable on you?" Harry asked, mortified by the very thought.

"No," replied Adam turning to Harry and offering him his hand "She saw her friend Colette cast the killing curse on her."

"Why not me?" Harry asked, accepting the hand and pulling himself to his feet.

Adam turned back to Harry's mate.

"Fleur, what would you have done if you had seen Harry?"

Fleur thought for a moment, her anger still evident on her face but willing to cooperate.

"I would probably have used our link to verify that it was Arry."

"Which is why I presented you with your friend and as you were being hunted at the time, it ensured that you could not verbally verify that she was who she appeared to be as any noise would have alerted the enemy to your position and thusly you fell into the same trap, QED."

"What?" asked Harry.

"Quod erat demonstrandum." Replied Adam.

"It's latin," explained Fleur "It means 'Which was to be demonstrated'."

"Oh." Nodded Harry before turning back to Fleur "You were caught out to?"

She nodded, embarrassed by her failure.

"Do not be disheartened," commented Adam "I expected that outcome from both of you....Fleur, you have never really been in an actual battle other than formalised duals so that sort of scenario is entirely new to you. Harry, you have been in many battles but with the exception of your forth year you have not encountered a situation where you have encountered a disguised person."

They both nodded numbly.

"This is my first lesson; don't always trust that people are who they say they are, the key is to know when to be suspicious and when to be trusting."

They each nodded again, both still feeling bad about not passing their first test.

"Second lesson," began Adam, walking about ten meters away from them he turned back to them and continued "I want Harry....actually no, both of you, I want both of you to fire curses at me from different points around the room."

"Why?" asked Fleur.

"Because I am going to dodge ALL the curses you throw at me."

Harry and Fleur exchanged a look before shrugging and walking apart so as to fire at him from different angles.

"Make it as difficult for me as possible; don't stop firing until you hit me or until I tell you to do otherwise."

They both nodded.

"Begin when rea...." He leaping sideways as Harry's first curse flew at him, impacting the wall behind him as Fleur's flew in the direction that he had dodged.

Harry aimed again, firing of a stunner silently, as Adam only told them to hit him not to incapacitate him, Harry didn't need to worry about the power of his spells, which meant he could easily cast silently, as Fleur was also doing.

Adam spun sideways as a pair of curses passed on either side of him, just missing his body, before he leapt into the air as Harry aimed a curse at the ground below his feet, turning it to mud.

Kicking off the wall, Adam sailed over the next pair of curses and between the pair as they brought their wands to bear.

He shouted stop as he heard a thud and Fleur gasp in shock.

"Oh Merlin, Arry." She cried running to her mate as he began getting back up, shaking of the effects of the light stunner

She dropped down to his side as he got back to his knees, the effects of the stunner completely gone.

"I'm so sorry Arry, I've broken my promise to you already, please forgive me?" She pleaded, looking at the floor in shame.

Harry looked at Fleur, he saw in that moment a Fleur that not many people ever saw; gone was the proud, strong, slightly vain young woman he was used to and in her place was a humble frightened girl.

"Fleur, you said you would never do anything to hurt me....you haven't, you just fell into his trap."

"He's right Fleur," agreed Adam "You were angry at me for putting Harry through what he saw in his illusion and you wanted to get back at me, I used your anger against you, you were so intent on cursing me you lost all awareness of your surroundings and therefore Harry's position, you were aiming at me and missed. Harry knows you would never hurt him, just as he would never hurt you."

"Never." Agreed Harry.

"I was demonstrating how anger can cloud your judgement, it can be very useful in a fight but you must not let it take over completely. Now....back to work."

They nodded and stood, Harry helping Fleur up.

"My original reason for that exercise was to show you that I could see exactly where you were going to aim."

Harry's brow creased in confusion.

"When you fire a spell you both point and cast whether silently or otherwise, we are going to try again but this time aim when you are thinking or saying the last syllable that way I won't be able to predict where you are aiming until it is too late."

They both nodded.

"Go." Said Adam quickly, having learnt his lesson from the previous match.

The opening few moments of the challenge were much the same as last time, until Fleur and Harry got the hang of the aiming at the last second, as soon as they grasped that the encounter changed; Adam started moving faster to avoid the curses that were coming ever closer to his body, but having learnt from the previous match the pair were not going to be beaten again.

/Arry /Said Fleur's voice in his head.

Yes

We need to pin him into a corner so he can't escape.

Yes He agreed Aim to drive him as well as to hit.

Changing his aim, Harry forced Adam to stop dead to avoid running straight into the path of his curse.

He fired again aiming nearer his target but still in front of Adam as to ensure he would back up.
________________________________________________________________________

Adam smiled internally as the spells impacted the wall in front of him, they had realised that working together they could corner him, it was definitely more of a challenge this time around, he was having to use all his skill short of using magic or his enhanced speed to avoid the incoming spells.

Despite their new technique he was aware that he could still out manoeuvre them but....they needed this victory.
________________________________________________________________________

Adam attempted to duck under the spells only to have one impact where his foot was about to land.

He doubled back, running straight into the corner of the room where he was pinned by Fleur's spells.

He jumped up high, but Fleur anticipated the move allowing her stunner to slam him into the wall before he dropped back to his feet still conscious.

He smiled at the smug pair.

"You used your mental link to communicate didn't you?" He smiled, straightening his coat.

They nodded.

"Thought so....your learning, well done."

The smiles he received made it evident to him that the day's lesson had been learned.

"I think that's enough for today, please practise your silent magic with more powerful spells."

Harry and Fleur smiled at each other before saying their goodbyes to Adam and headed back to their room.

They arrived in time to see one of the House Elves pop out after depositing their late breakfast.

"One day I will find out how they do that." Announced Harry as he held out Fleur's chair for her earning himself one of her one hundred watt smiles.

"What do you want to do for the rest of the day Arry?" Fleur asked before taking a delicate bite out of a croissant.

"Study probably; I'm over half way through your seventh year Defence textbook and three quarters of the way through mine."

"How about we go shopping?" she asked.

"Shopping?" he replied sceptically.

"Yes, shopping. Exchanging currency for goods and services ." She added with a smile.

"Yes thank you, I know what you meant by shopping....but why shopping."

"Well I though you might want to say thank you to one of the people who saved your life." she added with a smile.

"You know I can never thank you enough for what you did Fleur and I will say thank you to you every single day of our lives if I thought I could even pay you back even the slightest for what you did for me." He said taking her hands in his own.

Fleur's blushed deeply at his words "Thank you Arry....but actually I didn't mean me?"

"I will say thank you to Victor every day if you think that will help to."

She laughed lightly "I didn't mean Viktor either. I meant the person whose birthday you missed seven days ago?"

"Who?" he asked confused.

"Ginny."

Harry's eyes flew open.

"It was Ginny's birthday on the eleventh!"

She nodded.

"She never told me," He exclaimed standing up and beginning to pace "Oh God, I've missed her birthday four years running!.....I God, I've missed Hermione and Ron's birthdays FIVE years running....What must they think of me?"

Fleur laughed lightly.

"Your laughing," he exclaimed "I've just realised how bad a friend I have been and you laugh at me?"

"I'm sorry Arry," she chuckled "But your reaction was exactly as I predicted and encase your interested Ron's birthday is on the first of March and Eermion....Ermion....Ermione, why does she have to have such an awkward sounding name, Eermione's is on September nineteenth."

He nodded "We definitely need to go shopping then. Oh God, I forgotten Neville's as well, and I even knew when his was...." He turned to her quickly "When are yours, your sisters, your parents, Colette's and Viktor's?" he demanded.

She smiled at him

"Mother's is on February the twenty-eighth, fathers is on March fifth, Gabrielle's is June twelfth and Colette's is on November fifth and I don't know about Viktor's." she replied, knowing exactly what his next question would be and knowing with one hundred percent certainty that she would loose the following debate.

"And yours?"

"Don't worry about mine Arry."

"I insist Fleur;" he said dropping down to his knees in front of her "You rushed around all day to make my birthday perfect, do you really think I am ever going to miss yours again."

She sighed, she had been right.

"Mines September sixteenth, but please Arry don't make a big fuss over me."

"Fleur," he smiled up at her "I promise I am going to make your birthday make mine look like the sort of birthday the Dursley's would have thrown me."

Fleur sighed; it pained her to think of all those birthdays that he missed while living at the Dursley's and she also knew that he would carry out his promise.

"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?"

"Definitely not." He grinned, standing up "Now, I believe you mentioned shopping, I have five years worth of presents to buy."

She smiled at him, accepting his offered hand.

"Let me just grab my money bag and card." He said jogging over to one of the draws beside the bed and withdrawing the items.

"Card?" she asked.

"Yes. The Goblins at Gringotts are experimenting with Muggle technology called Debit Cards." He explained holding up his card so she can see.

"Dad has one of these for a Muggle bank he has an account for, I used it to pay for our meal at the restaurant though I have no idea how they work."

"I think I know but I'm not sure, I've never actually used one before either. If I am right when they take your card they swipe it and compare it to the four digit number you type in, they send the information electronically to the bank and if the details match the banks then the amount is withdrawn from your account and is put in the other persons account."

"I see," she smiled handing the card back to Harry who was now disguised as Danielle Radcliffe "I thought it would be more complicated than that, I was going to ask if we could go to Gringotts so I could get some money out, I think I'll get one of those cards as well, it could be useful."

"Definitely, you may want to get one of their new money pouches while we are there to, it will save you carrying money around with you unless you need it."

"Sounds like a good idea." She smiled looping her arm through his and leading them out of the door.

As they proceeded down the hall they passed the open door to the training room.

Glancing in as they passed, they were surprised to see a dagger go sailing through the air to impale itself in the bull's-eye of a very small target on the far wall.

Pausing out of curiosity, they gingerly leaned around the doorframe in time to see another knife come flying at the target, again hitting the bulls-eye.

At the other end of the room they could see Adam sitting crossed legged on the floor with half a dozen similar knifes swirling around him.

Fleur gasped, causing Adam's eyes to open suddenly and the blades to stop moving.

"That eager to resume training that you could not wait more than an hour?" he asked.

"Actually we were going shopping," explained Harry.

"How are you doing that?" asked Fleur, gesturing to the floating blades.

"Magic." He replied.

"But you aren't using a wand?"

"Do you use a wand when you summon fire?" he countered.

"I...." began Fleur before realising he was right.

"Wands aren't a requisite to magic, they just help." He explained standing, holding the sides of his coat open allowing the blades to move into several sheaves on the inside "Any number of mediums can be used as a focus for spells."

They nodded at his explanation before moving back towards the door, before they reached the door Harry paused and turned back to him.

"Would you like to come with us?" asked Harry, thinking on the off chance that something went wrong it may be useful to have some backup.

Thinking for a minute Adam turned back to Harry.

"Yes, thank you....I would."

"Do you need to get anything?" asked Fleur.

"No, I'm ready now."

Nodding they turned and moved together down towards the sitting room and the main fireplace.

Meeting the elder Delacour's sitting around a table covered in paperwork, they declined Fleur's offer to join them because of all the paper work and bed them farewell as they entered the fireplace.