In Defense of Fleur

"Harry!" Sirius replied with the same enthusiasm. "I am so glad to see you back awake. Madame Pomfrey was beginning to wonder why a dog kept coming to the Hospital wing to see you."

"As much as I wish you weren't here," Harry said thinking of Sirius's safety, "I am really glad you are."

"I bet you are Pup," Sirius said, and when Harry looked at him curiously, "Come on Harry, if you're going to be the godson of a dog, at least let me call you pup."

Harry grinned at his godfather, and then seeing he looked a little ragged. "Taking care of yourself aren't you Sirius?"

"Of course I have. It's been a little rough recently. I had to snag a few rats here and there," Sirius said and at the disgusted look on Harry's face he continued. "It's really not that bad. Remember I get the taste buds of a dog and eating a rat doesn't taste disgusting once you get past the mental part that it's a rat."

"Uh...if you say so," Harry replied hoping if he ever got around to trying to be an animagus his form wasn't a dog.

"Besides I can always pretend it's Pettigrew can't I?" Sirius said. "Lately though, thanks to this latest adventure of yours, I've been getting Hogwart's food. Not only is our very generous friend here," Sirius nodded toward Dumbledore, "getting me food from the kitchens, but I'm allowed to wander the Great Hall during dinner time. I've gotten very good at snagging the biscuits they throw to me."

Harry laughed at the thought of the most wanted wizard in all of Great Britain's magical world wandering around snagging biscuits in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

"So Pup," Sirius said, "sounds like you have a problem."

Harry's mood soured almost immediately. "Yeah it seems that way."

"Well if it helps any, I had a long conversation with their father."

"You WHAT?" Harry almost shouted. "You showed yourself?"

"Relax," Sirius smiled. "Albus did some serious glamour charms. I didn't even recognize myself when I looked in a mirror. But anyway, I told Mr. Delacour I was an old friend of your father's, which of course I am. He is a nice man, Harry. He doesn't blame you for anything. He was in the stands when you came out of the water and saw what happened. He also talked to his daughters before they were given the sleeping draft. He knows it was purely their choice."

"At least there's that," Harry muttered.

"I will tell you, that as he was discussing his daughters, Fleur in particular, it sounded a lot like you."

"What, what do you mean?" Harry asked in surprise.

"She is very much like you," Sirius repeated.

"But, but she is so beautiful and everybody wants to be with her," Harry said.

"But why do they want to be with her Harry?"

"Because she's gorgeous," Harry said.

"Any other reason?" Sirius said and at Harry's inability to reply "Exactly Harry, just like you have people fawning after you because of that scar on your head."

Harry's thought went back to Malfoy on the train coming to Hogwarts, Colin Creevey following him around with a camera and Professor Lockhart trying to use Harry's fame. "But why would Fleur want to have anything to do with me? I mean, that night, the one when my name came out of the goblet, she said I was a little boy."

"Did she Harry?" Sirius said. "She might have at first, but did you know she wrote to her sister almost weekly and a lot of the letters were about you?"

"She did? Why?" Harry asked. "What did she say?"

"Well you can ask her when you get a chance Harry, but she had noticed you as more than 'a little boy' " Sirius said. "Now you told Dumbledore how you helped Fleur, but I want to ask you why did you help her?"

"Because she needed help," Harry exclaimed. "I couldn't leave her fighting Grindlows. She couldn't get free."

"So? That's one less competitor to worry about," Sirius said offhandedly.

"Sirius, I couldn't!" Harry exclaimed testily.

"I know Harry, just making a point," Sirius continued. "Now, when she was free of the Grindylow, why not swim on ahead and leave her? Fleur told her father how you protected her."

"What if more Grindylow had shown up or something else?" Harry answered. "I…I mean she needed me to protect her."

"Protect the very beautiful silver haired Veela?" Sirius asked. "Or a woman who wanted to save her sister."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Harry, I do believe you told me that you fell under the Veela spell at the World Cup?" Dumbledore interjected.

"Yeah," Harry grimaced remembering the experience.

"Did you feel like that when you were saving Fleur or swimming to protect her?" Dumbledore continued to ask.

"No of course not. But you said her powers wouldn't work underwater anyway."

"Exactly Harry, you were not entranced by her allure, but you were protecting her anyway," Sirius said.

"But anyone would have done that," Harry blurted out.

"You don't give yourself enough credit pup," Sirius said.

"But you were the one who helped her, who guarded her, who risked his life to save her, not the blonde-haired beauty but Fleur Delacour, a scared and lonely young lady desperately fighting under the lake. Now from what Gabrielle had told their mother," Sirius raised his hand when Harry was going to ask a question,

"No, you'll have to ask her about it, but based on those comments, Fleur had already developed feelings for you. Maybe not romantic love, but definitely feelings. Now mix that with someone who looked past her beauty and helped her, no, who risked his life to save her for no reason and you see how those feelings might have deepened. Now finally, with all of those emotions rolling around in her body and her Veela powers coming back into full strength once she was out of the water and well she did what she did."

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