Dueling Hearts Ch 12 (Patreon)

A few days later, people were still talking about the Hogwarts group project. Many of the purebloods were still confused about what exactly they were going to be doing, but everyone seemed to be pretty excited about it.

Lily was happy as well, since she could now fade into just supervising Dean's father. Mr. Thomas had been alloted a suite, and he even had a house elf following him around at all times, making sure the muggle didn't get maimed by the many dangers of the magical school.

But right now, there was something else consuming the lives of the Hogwarts populace.

It was the first of October, and it was time for the other schools to arrive. Everyone was wearing their best robes, the castle had been thoroughly cleaned until it was spotless, and now the entire student body was standing on the grounds in the chilly autumn air, waiting for the other schools to arrive.

Harry spotted a carriage In the distance.

"Look." He pointed, tugging at Daphne's hand.

The carriage, led by a team of Abraxan, loomed closer and closer as it crossed the horizon, glinting in the light of the setting sun.

"Bet that's Beauxbaton." Blaise said while Hermione snuggled up to his side.

"Yeah, can't imagine Bulgarians wanting to travel around in a dainty little carriage." Ron commented.

As the carriage landed, Harry took a few furtive glances.

First he locked eyes with Angelina, who gave him a saucy wink that made him blush a deep red. His eyes passed over Susan, who seemed to be in a bit of a trance. He really needed to hang out with her, he missed her dearly. As he moved on, he found his mother and Bella, standing with the rest of the staff.

They were standing next to each other, but it was clear from their body language that they were very uncomfortable in each other's presence. Harry sighed, wishing his mother and mentor could get along, and they could finally get this coven up and running.

"Dumbleedore! What a pleasure!"

Harry turned back to the new arrivals, taken aback when he saw a giant of a woman greeting their own Headmaster.

"Hagrid's gonna love her." Harry whispered to Daphne, who rolled her eyes at him.

Introductions finished, the beauxbaton delegation exited the carriage.

Harry understood now why they had a ballet in their repertoire. Most of the Beauxbaton students were female, with a couple males here and there, and all the girls had a bit of haughty, superior air to them. Maybe it was a french thing.

Ron whistled. "With all the birds in there there's no way I'm going to strike out!" Ron said with a broad grin.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Ron." Ginny joked from his side.

Harry found nothing really interesting about the Beauxbaton delegation. No one stood out as looking particularly powerful or skilled for him to duel. Then again, he figured he himself probably looked pretty unassuming to the naked eye.

"Look! The lake!" Someone called out.

Everyone whirled around just as a massive ship emerged from the Black Lake. The old wooden vessell resembled a pirate ship, with rows of sails along its tall masts. It reminded Harry of the old stories about the Flying Dutchman.

The boat slowly trudged up to the edge of the lake as water cascaded down its hull. Dark orange light glinted from its many portholes as it lurched to a stop.

The Beauxbaton delegation formed neat little rows, in contrast with Hogwarts' mostly disorganized mass, as both schools waited for Durmstrang to enter the stage.

A plank lowered, and students began marching out of the boat. The Durmstrang delegation reminded Harry of those muggle armies. It was the way they walked so robotically, in such perfect yet unnatural rhythm, and stood at either side of the plank. These students all looked deathly serious, not an ounce of humor in their faces as they simply stood in line, staring straight ahead with their hands behind their back. They all wore plain brown robes and fur hats, which only added to their martial aura.

There was a momentary pause before three figures emerged from the depths of the ship.

Gasps filled the Hogwarts grounds, for many reasons.

Leading the pack was an unfortunate looking man with a head of greasy black hair and a hook nose. The man's black robes billowed from a non-existent wind, and his dark, beady eyes seemed to hold nothing but malice and disdain.

Behind and to his right was a short, stocky teenager with a bow-legged gait. The teen had dark hair and eyes and a blocky jaw, and even to Harry he was easily recognizable as an international quidditch star.

"Krum!" Ron whispered, looking completely starstruck by the Bulgarian seeker.

Krum was the reason for most of the gasps, but not all.

To the greasy haired man's left was a girl. She was tall, with silvery blonde hair that was collected in a simple ponytail. Harry kept squinting, trying to see if it was a trick of the light, but he was certain she had an aura that gave her a heavenly glow. She had sharp blue eyes, similar to Daphne's and yet so much colder than his girlfriend's. Even through the heavy cloak she was wearing, Harry could see that she had a dynamite figure, with her chest unable to be hidden by the baggy attire.

On top of the girl's almost otherworldly beauty, though, her appearance was quite shocking, for this girl's face was littered with tattoos.

They were small, some of them runes Harry recognized, others symbols he'd never seen before. The most striking one was the lightning bolt that was smack dab in the middle of her forehead. Catching a glimpse of her hands as she walked, Harry noted that those too were covered in ink.

Harry had been struck dumb by her.

For some reason, he seemed to be the only one. All the other boys seemed to be avoiding looking at her, or actively cringing whenever they acknowledged her presence.

"Man, that bird with them is a weirdo, isn't she?" Ron commented.

Harry bit his tongue, not wanting to jump to the mysterious girl's defense too actively, since him and Daphne were keeping the nature of their relationship a secret for the time being.

Ron's reaction was weird, though. He usually jumped at anything that moved, but he was repulsed by this absolute goddess because she was covered in tattoos?

Harry felt Daphne squeeze his hand and he looked down.

Daphne was looking at the foreign girl with a deep blush on her face, and when Harry caught her eye, he knew that the girl had instantly shot up to the top of the Coven candidate list.

The trio finally reached Dumbledore and Maxine, with the rest of the delegation following closely behind.

"Dumbledore." The greasy haired man spoke in perfect english.

"Aah, Severus. It's been far too long since you've been back here." Albus said with a smile.

"Not long enough." This was grumbled lowly but very audibly by Bellatrix. Harry could see that his mentor was looking at the Durmstrang Headmaster with clear hatred. To her left, Harry's mother looked visibly uncomfortable.

Harry saw as Severus' eyes skimmed over the Hogwarts staff. The man's sneer deepened when his eyes fell on Bella, but when they fell on Lily, something else came up.

A look that made Harry want to run over and stomp the man's head into the ground.

Lily squirmed, and to Harry's shock, Bellatrix wrapped a protective arm around her, whispering something into Lily's ear.

…

Lily jumped as she felt an arm wrap around her shoulder. She was shocked to find it was Bellatrix, who was practically shielding her from Snape's gaze with her body.

"Whatever the fucker did to you, he won't do it again. I'll make sure of that."

Lily shivered, but she couldn't help but lean into Bellatrix's embrace as she saw Snape frown deeply once more before his gaze returned to the Headmaster.

Even as they all trudged back into the castle, Bellatrix kept the arm around Lily's shoulder, and Lily felt no inclination to pull away.

She wondered what interaction the dark haired witch had had with Severus. Snape had never been part of the dueling circuit, and they'd been quite a few years apart in their Hogwarts days.

As Lily thought back to her own past with the Durmstrang Headmaster, her stomach twisted in knots.

They'd been friends, once. As little children, Snape had introduced Lily to the world of magic, and Lily had felt a sense protectiveness over the scruffy, bruised little boy from the bad part of town.

Then they'd gone off to Hogwarts, and things changed. Slowly at first, being sorted into different houses, making new friends (for Lily, at least. Snape hadn't made many friends.), growing up, it had made them a bit distant.

Lily had noticed it, the way he looked at her. It was impossible not to, but she'd tried to push those thoughts away, tried to give her old friend the benefit of the doubt. Even if he did have feelings for her, he would have enough respect for her to accept that she didn't return those feelings.

Then, one day near the end of fifth year, it had happened. Severus had left her a note, asking to meet with her in private. She'd gone to the meeting point with trepidation at the uncomfortable conversation they were surely going to have.

It was an empty classroom down in the dungeons, the same room they used to hang out at, before things had gone so terribly wrong. Lily still remembered the deep breath she'd taken before opening the door.

The moment she'd entered the room, Lily had been disarmed and hit by a body bind curse. She still remembered the terror she'd felt those moments as Severus loomed over her, ranting about how ungrateful she was, about how she belonged to him, about how he was going to show her her proper place as his rightful property.

Lily had squirmed and struggled and fought all she could to break free, but nothing worked. She could only stare up in horror as Snape's hands trailed up her leg and inner thigh, every single touch feeling like venom burning her skin.

Just as all seemed lost, the door had burst open and spells began flying.

Snape had jumped back and began firing back, shooting nasty dark curses but getting slowly pushed back by the three boys who'd come to her rescue.

The Marauders. Sirius Black. Remus Lupin.

And James Potter.

James Potter, a constant nuisance throughout her years in school, especially with his never ending, obnoxious crusade to win her over, but that day, he and his friends had been her saviors.

"Everything all right, Potter?"

Lily was snapped back to the present by Bellatrix's voice. They were sitting at the staff table now, near the edge, as far away from Snape as possible.

"Y-Y-Yeah." Lily said shakily.

Bella looked at her with her sharp violet eyes. "Come to my quarters after dinner. We can talk there."

…

The Beauxbaton students had settled into the Ravenclaw table while the Durmstrang students had decided to sit with the Slytherins. Malfoy was a few seats away from Krum, clearly trying to find an opening to strike a conversation with the Quidditch star, who came off as very reserved. Daphne was sitting a ways down the table with Tracey and Blaise, but Harry noted how her eyes kept drifting over to the blonde girl with the tattoos.

Not that Harry could blame her, he couldn't keep his eyes off her either.

"I wonder what her story is." He whispered.

Ron gave him a weird look. "Why are you so interested in that chick?" He asked.

Harry blanched. "Err.. nothing! I just think there's gotta be a reason for all the tattoos."

Hermione inadvertently saved him by jumping in. "What I want to know is why all the boys seem so disgusted with her."

"I mean, she does look really odd Hermione." Seamus said, receiving nods from Ron and Dean.

Hermione noticed that Harry hadn't joined in with the others, but thankfully didn't speak on it. "I just…it doesn't make sense."

Harry caught on. "Do you think there's something more to it?"

Hermione nodded. "There's some sort of magic involved, otherwise all these idiots would be drooling over her."

"Maybe those runes she's got tattooed on her have something to do with it."

"Very astute, monsieur."

Everyone whirled around as the subject of their conversation stood behind Harry, her face an impassive mask.

Instantly, the others looked away in apparent disgust, repelled from her as if by magic. Only Harry and Hermione were unaffected.

"S-Sorry! We were just curious!" Hermione said nervously.

Harry remained quiet. Up close, he could see every detail of the runes tattooed on her face. When she blinked, he noticed that even the backs of her eyelids were tattooed. She had such perfect facial features, such gorgeous blue eyes and full pouty lips, and the tattoos on top of that just enhanced her beauty to him.

The girl noticed him staring, but she didn't react, instead pointing at something behind him. "Will you be having ze bouillabaisse?"

"Huh?" Harry snapped out of his trance.

"Zat." She insisted with her hand. Harry turned to see a large bowl of soup that smelled strongly of fish.

"Sure, here you go." Harry grabbed the bowl and passed it over to her.

The girl took the dish, but her eyes were locked with Harry's own.

Harry felt a sudden burst of magic. It was then that he understood that she had in fact been emitting some sort of aura that was repelling everyone. He understood because the inverse was now happening. If he'd found her attractive before, now he thought she was a goddess, he felt a need to kneel down in front of her and kiss her feet, to yell out his undying love for her for all the Great Hall to hear.

All around him, the boys who had been looking away were now staring at her like lost puppies. Ron was practically salivating, staring dumbly at her. The rest of the boys at the Gryffindor table were not too far behind.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he saw the superior smirk form on her face. With a little effort, he was able to get a hold of his senses, using his occlumency to expel the foreign influence from his mind.

"So you're able to control it? That's not very nice, playing around with people's emotions like that." Harry said firmly.

She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow as the energy inverted once more, returning to the repelling force that made all those around them look away in disgust.

"Interesting." She mused as she looked as if she was reassessing Harry. "What is your name, monsieur?"

"Harry Potter." Harry said curtly.

"Fleur Delacour," she responded with a sly smile.

"So you're French, yet you attend Durmstrang?" Harry asked.

"Oui." was Fleur's succinct response.

Harry snorted, "Quite the mystery."

Someone cleared their throat, and Harry turned to see Hermione was glaring holes into both of them.

Fleur laughed, a soft, almost imperceptible laugh. "I've led an interesting life." She tilted her head to the side. "It was a pleasure talking to you, Monsieur Potter."

"Likewise." Harry tilted his head and Fleur walked away.

Hermione slapped his arm.

"Ow! What's the deal, Mione?" Harry hissed. As he rubbed his forearm.

"You were blatantly flirting with her. Did you forget about Daphne?" She whispered fiercely. Thankfully, Fleur's aura had made everyone disinterested in the scene, and so none of the resident Hogwarts gossips had picked up on it.

Suddenly, Daphne slid into the seat next to him. Hermione clamped up, looking embarrassed while Harry smiled at his girlfriend.

"Oh my god, what did she say, Harry?" Daphne asked excitedly. "She looks so cool, doesn't she? Like she's out of one of those cyberpunk movies." She gushed.

Hermione looked completely taken aback, deciding to turn the other way and try her luck at conversing with Ron. Instead she found that Blaise had slipped in next to her, and the bushy haired girl completely forgot about Harry and Daphne.

"She's definitely interesting. She's French, goes to Durmstrang, is covered in tattoos and she has a weird aura she can control."

"Plus she's insanely hot." Daphne made sure to add.

"That too." Harry agreed.

They heard a throat clear under a sonorus charm and everyone turned to the head table, where Dumbledore had stood up.

"Once again, I'd like to welcome our guests to our wonderful institution! I hope you are enjoying your meals, and I can assure you, our students will give you the warmest of welcomes as you spend the next year with us."

There were a few scattered snickers and snorts.

"If any of you wish to wander about, I can assure you that our school is the safest place in the British Isles. If you wish to take strolls down eerie corridors, heed the words of voices that whisper through the walls, you can be assured that no harm will come to you!"

"Tomorrow evening, each school will be presenting their teams for all three events in the Great Hall. I look forward to that and the rest of the festivities throughout the year, may the spirit of brotherhood grow with each passing moment!"

Everyone clapped as Dumbledore returned to his seat. Madam Maxine looked to have taken well to the speech, but the Durmstrang Headmaster's ugly sneer had not wavered once.

The feast continued on.

At one point, Harry and Daphne saw Bellatrix and Lily get up and excuse themselves, much to Snape's displeasure.

"Wow, that's an omen if I've ever seen one. Yer mam and yer mentor getting along."

"Ron, why did you talk like that just now?" Harry asked his friend.

"I'm trying out some different accents so I can get a good spot in the wrestling thingy. Dean told me his dad is all about wacky characters, and what's more wacky than a silly irishman?"

Everyone quieted down as they glanced over at Seamus, who was gritting his teeth.

"Ron, you realize I'm Irish, right? Real Irish." He seethed.

"Ron shrugged. "Yeah but you barely play it up mate."

"Maybe try a different tract, Ron." Daphne offered. "Why don't you try to be scottish?"

"You just have to talk like McG." Blaise said. "She's yelled at you enough where it should be second nature."

While their friends went off on that tangent, Harry and Daphne huddled up together. "Team meeting?"

"Team meeting." Daphne agreed.

The couple left the table, making their excuses to go off for a snog.

They left the Great Hall and went up a few floors. They saw Susan enter the second flood girl's bathroom on their way up, but decided it was best not to bother their friend. Though they did make a promise to hang out with the redhead soon.

They reached one of the 'play' rooms. They were rooms set up every few floors, filled with tables, board games and other small amenities. They were there to allow friends from different houses to hang out, and it had been the preferred hangout spot for Harry's gang up until this year.

Harry and Daphne sat down at the table, where a half-finished game of Wizard's Scrabble still stood.

"Wow. This guy was a berk. Expelliarmus? Really?"

"What's wrong with expelliarmus?" Harry asked defensively.

"Everyone knows using spell names is cheating, Harry." Daphne said.

Harry frowned. "But isn't that the whole point? Otherwise what makes it different from muggle scrabble?" He shook his head. "Let's not get sidetracked. We've got a lot of coven business to discuss."

"We really need a name,"

"That, but first. Do you think the Lily and Bella breakthrough just happened on its own?"

Daphne squealed. "I don't want to get my hopes up, but they walked out together!"

"I don't know what's up with that Durmstrang Headmaster, but they both seem to really hate him. I guess your theory held true, Daphne."

Daphne shook her head. "Let's not count our chickens before they roost. Now, what about that sexy alternate blonde that just showed up?"

"Her name's Fleur Delacour." Harry frowned. "She does seem like she has some issues, though."

"I could have told you that, Harry." Daphne said. "We need to bring her in."

"So, her and Angelina? How many more are we talking, Daph?"

Daphne shook her head. "I'm not sure. Like I said, I can't find anything on it. I thought I found a book the other day in one of the upper shelves,"

"Was that the time I caught you? When the ladder you were on broke?"

Daphne nodded, remembering the incident clearly. It could have gone very wrong, but Harry had been there to save her. She could still clearly see poor Susan's shocked face when it happened.

"When I went back up to check again the book was gone. But either way, we've both taken arithmancy. I'd figure seven is a good number, right?"

"Is that seven including me, or me plus seven?" Harry asked.

"Getting greedy now, aren't we Potter?" Daphne teased.

"Either way, I'll keep looking. But right now, we need to focus on the present. And the present is getting these sexy girls to join our damn coven!"

"Actually." Harry said as he waved his wand. "The present is me kicking your ass at some Wizard's Scrabble."

"No spell names!" Daphne warned her boyfriend.

The game was on.

So, what do you guys think of Fleur? This is a wildly different take on her, and if I can get an AI that isn't garbage at doing tattoos, I'll post some images of her in a few days