Dueling Hearts Ch 14 (Patreon)

"Where is everyone?" Tracey asked as she blew air out of her mouth.

She was sitting with Harry and Daphne in the library, a pile of books that none of them had any interest in reading sitting on the table.

"Is our company that terrible?" Harry asked the brunette.

"It's not that. I feel like I'm third wheeling when it's just the three of us now."

"Well, Hermione and Blaise are probably snogging in some broom closet, if you want to go find them." Daphne offered.

Tracey huffed in frustration.

"I think Ron's playing chess with Seamus or Dean. Maybe you could ask him out for a snog and round out our little friend group." Harry wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as both Daphne and Tracey made disgusted faces.

"Ew. No. I have standards, Potter."

"Besides." Daphne shot Tracey an evil grin. "Tracey has her heart set on another Weasley."

"Daphne!" Tracey threw a book at her friend as Daphne snickered.

"Wait, is it Fred or George? How can you even decide on which one you like?" Harry asked.

Daphne rolled her eyes even as Tracey shot her a murderous look. "It's neither, Harry."

"Neither, but then…" His eyes widened as he realized who that left.

And that person happened to be laughing with her friends near a bookcase just a few tables away.

"Wow, didn't think you'd like em younger, Davis." Harry said with a sly smile.

Tracey was positively fuming. "I am never telling you a single thing ever again." She jabbed her finger at Daphne after each word.

"Why don't you just ask her out?"

"It's not that simple, Potter. I don't even know if she likes girls."

"Just go for it, Trace, what's the worst that could happen?" Daphne asked.

"I get humiliated in front of the whole school?" Was Tracey's retort.

"No one's going to care, Trace." Daphne assured.

"Besides, now's the perfect time to do it. Everyone's going to be focused on the ceremony tonight, the rumor mill won't have an ear to spare for a third year rejecting a fourth year." Harry added.

Harry's words seemed to sink into the girl, who bit her lip as she shot a longing glance over at the far table, where Ginny Weasley laughed at something her friend said.

"Fuck it." She stood abruptly and glared down at Daphne. "If this goes bad, you're the one who'll have to deal with my wailing."

"More than ready." Daphne said with a smile.

Tracey took a deep breath before making her way over to where the third years were congregating.

Harry and Daphne watched in tense silence as Tracey said something to Ginny. The redhead got up from her seat and the two of them walked a few feet away. Whatever Tracey was saying, Ginny's face reddened considerably.

"Cmon, cmon Trace!" Daphne whispered under her breath.

Tracey was done talking. There was a moment of complete silence, and then Ginny held her hand out. Tracey broke into a wide smile as she grabbed the younger girl's hand, almost dragging her away as Ginny waved goodbye to her friends, who began to wolf-whistle as the two girls disappeared from the library.

"Yes!" Daphne cheered, fist in the air. "We are good at this,"

"Good at what?" Harry asked, a smile still on his face after seeing his friend succeed.

"Good at this matchmaking thing."

"Who did we match up besides those two?"

"Hermione and Blaise." Daphne stated confidently.

Harry looked confused. "I don't remember us doing anything to make that happen."

"I'll take full credit for it then." Daphne said with a smile.

"You make quite ze couple."

Harry and Daphne both turned their heads, their eyes falling on the heavily tattooed French beauty.

Fleur's outfit almost made Harry's jaw drop. She was wearing a tight black pencil skirt and a pink, sleeveless collared shirt. Her arms were covered in tattoos, though these tended to be more illustrations than runic symbols, like the Hebridean Black on her left forearm or the phoenix on her right bicep. Her legs were equally covered, and Harry was especially taken with the large gorgon head on her left leg, the hundreds of snakes that made up its hair slithering realistically.

Her aura had caused the library to empty as everyone else felt compelled to keep their distance from her, leaving only Harry and Daphne to gawk at the blonde beauty.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Delacour." Harry greeted, trying to keep his voice level despite the almost painful hardening of his cock.

"Please 'Arry, you may call me Fleur. Zis is your girlfriend?" She asked, focusing her gaze on Daphne.

Daphne seemed to be dumbstruck, staring at the older blonde as if she were an alien. "H-H-Hi… Daphne Greengrass."

Daphne stuck her hand out and Fleur smiled, taking it in her own and planting a kiss on the back of her palm.

Daphne's eyes almost rolled to the back of her head, and Harry swore he saw Fleur shoot him a smug look for a moment.

"What brings you to the library, Fleur?" Harry asked, seeing as Daphne would not be able to hold much of a conversation.

"Oh nozzing." The blonde shot him a dazzling smile. "Just wanted to take your woman from you."

"Huh?"

Just like last night, Fleur's aura reversed. The weird buzz that made others look away turned into a thick fog, a fog of sweet pheromones that made Harry want to salivate just at the sight of her.

Harry shook his head, clearing it instantly and returning his focus, the sharpness he needed to understand exactly what this french bitch had said.

"What did you say?" Harry asked again.

Fleur wasn't looking at him, her eyes were filled with amusement as she looked at Daphne.

Daphne was in a trance, her eyes unfocused and her mouth hung open as she stared lovingly up at Fleur.

"Exactly what I said, Potter. I will take your woman from you, I will prove my superiority." Fleur's french accent was replaced by nearly perfect english.

Harry growled. Who the hell did this french bint think she was?

"Come…Daphne was it? Let me enjoy you, let me take you away from this inferior wizard." Fleur cooed as she focused her allure, blasting it at Daphne full force.

Harry made to grab Daphne, to hold her down to prevent her from being enticed by this seductress.

He needn't have bothered.

Daphne's face had turned. The moment Fleur had insulted Harry, it was as if her spell was broken.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, you french bitch?" Daphne spat.

Faster than Harry thought his girlfriend was capable of, she whipped her wand out and shot a hex at Fleur. The french girl dodged easily, a nasty snarl forming on her face as her aura flipped once more, the repelling force ensuring Madam Pince wouldn't be venturing over to kick them out.

"How could you overcome my allure? You were drooling over me like a lost puppy!"

All three of them were on their feet now, circling around the table with their wands drawn.

Daphne grabbed onto Harry's free hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "I love Harry above all else. And I don't appreciate you trying to humiliate him."

Harry had his eyes locked on Fleur, trying to even his breathing as he prepared to pull Daphne behind him the moment she cast anything.

"Love? What a ridiculous notion." Fleur spat. Her tattoos were shifting rapidly around her body, working themselves up to a frenzy.

"I don't know what you have against me, Delacour, but let's take this somewhere else." Harry said calmly.

The french witch tilted her head, giving them a clear view of the puppeteer's hands tattooed on the side of her neck.

"I accept. Maybe then you'll both acknowledge your inferiority."

"When Harry kicks your French arse you'll have to lick his boots!" Daphne growled.

It was a tense trio that left the library. Harry and Daphne walked at a profile, unwilling to give their backs to Fleur, who was glaring at the two of them with pure rage.

Luckily, they didn't bump into anyone as Harry led them from the library over to the room that Bellatrix had set aside for his and Angelina's training.

They entered the large room, which had the dueling pit now permanently set up and ready for use.

"Don't you dare go easy on her." Daphne poked him hard on the chest before she gave him a quick kiss. Harry winked at her as he passed through the boundary wards, stepping up to the stage as Fleur did the same on the opposite side.

Harry took a deep breath, sizing his opponent up.

He knew nothing about her, besides her mysterious tattoos. She was from Durmstrang, and was clearly one of the prized students, meaning she knew her way around a wand.

An unknown opponent was the most dangerous opponent, but there was nothing Harry could do about it besides not holding back.

"You ready?" Harry asked her from across the ring.

Fleur didn't answer. She had her eyes closed, taking long, calming breaths in preparation for the duel. Harry watched as she brought her wand to her head, touching the tip on the lightning bolt tattooed on her forehead.

"Sowilo." She whispered. The lightning bolt lit up with an eerie green light. She moved her wand to her arm, tapping it on the dragon tattoo, which began glowing red.

That can't be good. Harry thought with trepidation as the girl lifted her right leg, tapping the wand to a wing tattooed on her ankle, which glowed white.

She opened her eyes, supreme confidence reflected in her blue pools. "I am ready." She said.

Harry couldn't pretend that this whole display didn't leave him a bit unsettled, but all he could do was clear his mind and remain alert.

At Fleur's verbal confirmation, the ring automatically began a countdown to the start of the duel. The two of them bowed, neither taking their eyes off the other as they settled into their stances.

The buzzer went off and Harry burst into movement.

He cast two stunners and a tripping jynx, moving to his left as he conjured a stone slab, preparing to banish it towards Fleur.

He was forced to dive to the other side as an angry red spell rocketed towards him. He didn't even have time to try to identify it, it looked like a stunner but with a ring of fire around it, before it collided with his stone slab, incinerating it instantly and sending bits of burning rock in his direction.

Harry redirected the shrapnel towards Fleur with a gust of wind, but to his complete shock, the girl dodged with superhuman speed. The tattoo on her leg flared up as she danced between the hot stones with uncanny reflexes.

Fuck. Was all Harry could think, slowly realizing what the tattoos did.

Don't think, just fight.

She might be fast, but it wouldn't matter if Harry aimed right.

He aimed his wand to where he knew she would need to move. Another angry spell, this one purple, zoomed in his direction and Harry shifted his stance, letting the spell pass three inches above his shoulder.

He felt an intense burn in the area where the spell had passed.

Harry cast a cutting curse, the perfect combination of wide arching and fast moving, to the space where he knew she would need to be in two seconds in order to miss all the shrapnel.

His aim was true, the cutting curse and Fleur were on a direct collision course.

Just when she was about to jump into it, the lightning bolt on her forehead lit up. Suddenly, Fleur contorted her body, diving to the other side and letting the spell miss wide of her. She conjured a wooden shield that blocked the rest of the rapidly cooling stone.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Harry didn't think, he just cast. He sent a new shower of pebbles over to Fleur, which she easily blocked with her shield.

"Is that all you can do? Send dirt at me?" Fleur taunted as she emerged from her shield, whipping her wand in a wide arch.

A whip of dark red flame extended from the tip. Harry conjured a ball of water that met the whip halfway, exploding into a shower of hot steam that filled the pit.

But not before the tip of the whip slashed Harry's shoulder.

The teen let out a hiss of pain as he rolled to the side and allowed the whip to pass over him. Thankfully, his orb had done its job, cutting the whip off in the middle and ending the threat.

He ignored the throbbing of his shoulder, made worse by the scalding hot steam.

Harry swirled his wand in a circle, quickly condensing the steam onto the tip of his wand. Harry fired the steam bullet towards Fleur. The french girl scoffed, the tattoo on her forehead flaring up once again as she jumped to dodge Harry's attack.

Except when she tried to move, a mass of vines kept her in place.

Fleur was shocked, locking down to her arm, which was being constricted by dozens of thick green vines that had sprouted from her shield.

When Harry had last banished those 'pebbles' at her, he'd actually conjured seeds, some of which embedded themselves in Fleur's wooden shield and began to grow rapidly, helped along by the steam the french girl had so thankfully provided.

Harry grinned triumphantly as he sent two overpowered blasting curses in her direction.

Fleur looked absolutely livid. She was done, those vines were heavy, she wouldn't be able to move.

Except her face scrunched up in concentration and she swung her arm. To Harry's absolute shock, the shield moved, vines and all, and the girl used enough force to actually tear the vines off her arm.

The shield and vines ended up in the path of all of Harry's attacks, being either blown apart by the blasting curses or shredded to bits by the concentrated ball of steam.

Harry barely had time to gawk at what had just happened before three jets of light shot off towards him.

Frozen for a moment, Harry raised his wand. He redirected the first two spells and managed to conjure a small silver shield to block the final one. The shield was melted down by whatever Fleur had cast, and conjuring silver had taken a lot out of him.

"Come on Harry!" Daphne cheered from his side.

Harry had no idea why she was cheering after what had just happened. He was slowly becoming drained, and Fleur's enhanced abilities made this duel almost impossible.

Almost.

As fast as Fleur was, as powerful as her spells were. Bellatrix was still clearly leagues above her. And Harry had been on the receiving end of Bellatrix's whippings enough times to be able to survive.

The biggest issue was that precognition or spidey sense her forehead tattoo gave her. If he couldn't really catch her by surprise, he wasn't sure there was much he could do.

"She's getting tired Harry! Come on!"

Harry snorted. He was getting tired. His legs felt heavy and his shoulder was beginning to burn up with pain.

Fleur sent a fireball his way and Harry redirected it with a gust of wind.

She sent another volley his way, and Harry began to realize that Daphne had a point.

Fleur's spells were losing their zip. Though Harry himself had slowed down, he was having a much easier time parrying her spells and counterpunching with his own quick jabs.

He sent a special piercing hex disguised as a stunner that cleaved through the shield she hastily erected. He could see the tattoos on her arm and leg beginning to dull. Her powers were clearly very draining on her magic, and she was running low on gas.

Her precognition was still effective, but with slower reflexes it became a more even fight.

A cheeky smile formed on Harry's face as he got an idea. Slowly, he began to slip cheering charms in with his constant stream of stunners, disarming charms and tripping jynxes.

He was purposefully using low powered spells and not trying to worry too much about being creative. Fleur had not used transfiguration once in their duel, so he was fairly sure she wasn't going to throw anything off the wall at him. Right now, the objective was to outlast her.

The cheering charms worked. It seemed that her sowilo did not register them as threats, and so Fleur started to become confused as to why she wasn't being alerted about some spells she could clearly see coming.

To her credit, even as her other two tattoos faded completely, she moved deftly. Once she realized the spells that weren't being detected were cheering charms, she simply let those hit her and dodged everything else.

But it was hard to compartmentalize on the fly like that, and soon one of Harry's tripping jynxes hitched a ride next to a cheering charm and struck her dead in the chest.

Fleur stumbled, and her face became a bizarre mixture of extreme rage mixed in with happiness, resulting in a rather disturbing grin as she got her second wind.

Harry's eyes widened as she jabbed her wand violently, sending a large green curse careening over to him.

Harry was tired, and in pain, but he should still be able to dodge. But then the crazy part of his brain decided to take another path.

Harry recognized that curse, it was a bone breaker. Broken bones could be mended. If he moved, she might be able to regain her composure, if he took advantage of the moment, he could win.

His mind was made up in an instant and a spear of ice shot out of his wand, aimed directly at her chest. Fleur cursed as she saw the icicle speeding towards her. Her sowilo faded just as, with a tired whack, she managed to split the spear in half just before it reached her.

Opening a path for a light yellow spell to hit her dead in the chest and send her wand flying in Harry's direction.

Harry had tried dodging the bone-breaker after casting his own spells, but he'd been caught on the side, falling to his knees in pain as he felt his ribcage shatter.

But he still held his hand out, and he grinned triumphantly as Fleur's wand landed on his palm.

The thrill of victory was the most euphoric feeling Harry had ever experienced. For just a moment, every single ache faded as he basked in a hard fought victory.

And then the pain returned.

Daphne sprinted to his side, hugging him a bit too tightly and making him yelp in pain.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She apologized as Harry held his side. "Come on, let's take you to the hospital wing."

They began to walk away from the ring, Harry letting Fleur's wand clatter to the floor, when they heard sobs coming from behind them.

Fleur was on her knees, tears streaming down her face as a mixture of emotions swirled in her face. "How?"

"How what?" Daphne spat, looking at the girl with unbridled hatred.

"I gave my life away! I became a weapon…a monster! How could you beat me? What are you? You ignore my rejection! You overcome my allure! You make me feel…" Fleur choked on her words, stopping herself short of whatever she was going to say. Instead she got to her feet, her clothing looking battered as Daphne kicked her wand over to her.

Fleur grabbed her wand and refused to look at the couple, instead turning swiftly and disappearing rapidly through the door.

"That girl has issues." Daphne said.

Harry had to agree, but he couldn't help but feel that the duel left him even more intrigued by Fleur Delacour than ever before.

“Harry.”

It seemed that Daphne knew him too well, for she had easily the thoughtful expression on his face.

“Yeah?”

“You can fuck her. In fact, I want to be there and see you put that stupid french bitch right in her proper place. But I will not accept her in our coven, and I will never let her get anywhere near me.”

Harry gulped.

He knew he should be irate after what Fleur had tried to pull. And he had been. But dueling her had been such a thrill, and more than that, he could sense that deep down, below whatever fucked up shit had happened to lead her down this path, he knew Fleur wasn’t a bad person.

She was a mystery, a mystery he wanted to uncover.

“Do you really mean it when you say never?” Harry asked boldly.

Daphne crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, “Are you serious?” Harry just stared back at her blankly and Daphne sighed. “It would take a lot, Harry. It would take a lot for me to even consider allowing that bitch into our coven.”

Harry placed his hand over Daphne’s. “I understand, and I know this sounds crazy, but I feel like she’s a good person, deep down.”

“You’ll have to prove it to me.” Daphne said.

Harry nodded and they dropped the matter. Harry now had another task added to his list. He needed to get close to Fleur, figure out just what exactly it was that made her this way, and prove to Daphne that she was just a lost soul that needed their help.

Or, she might just be a psycho bitch, in which case, Harry would forget about the whole thing.