Chapter 7 Bonding

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Wish I did so I could throw out the epilogue and ban it from ever being seen again.

Chapter 7

As he held Fleur and Gabrielle's hands, Harry's mind drifted back to the words Mr. Delacour had said.

"You will find yourself somewhere you feel safe."

He couldn't help but try to anticipate where the bond would happen. Harry thought of all the places he had been in his life. He spent his childhood at the Dursleys and that definitely wasn't safe. Hogwarts? He had fought a troll, Voldemort twice, a basilisk and a dragon at Hogwarts. The Burrow? The last time he was there he was taken to a place where rampant Death Eaters were blasting a campground apart.

Harry sighed. He couldn't think of anywhere he felt safe. "Would that be a problem?" He asked himself. "Would not knowing a safe place prevent the bonding from happen?" His internal reverie was interrupted when Madam Pomfrey laid a hand upon his shoulder.

"Mr. Potter… Harry, I think it is best if you lay back down on your bed," She suggested. "We're not sure what is going to happen to you physically with the dual bonding. You may lapse back into unconsciousness again."

Harry nodded at the school matron and with a sigh climbed back onto his bed. Fleur and Gabrielle walked to either side of the bed and sat down on it.

"Thank you," Fleur said as she took his right hand while Gabrielle only smiled as she took his left.

"Now close your eyes and think of Gabrielle and me," Fleur said in a soft voice. "When we get zere, remember to wait for us. Gabrielle and I must enter your 'eart together. Ze bond forms once ze 'eart is entered so we must do it at ze same time."

Harry looked one last time into Fleur's blue eyes and then turned and smiled at Gabrielle. "It definitely could be worse," He thought before giving a final nod and closing his eyes. Harry tried to relax as he tried to concentrate on the two beautiful women beside him. He felt each of them lift the hand they held and kiss it lightly; warmth radiated from the spot they had kissed, up his arms until it met in the center of his chest. Harry could feel the warmth build in his chest that grew warmer as if a fire was bursting inside of him. Again Harry found himself looking at two beautiful birds surrounded by fire flying across his mental vision. He watched them climb higher and higher and then it all went black.

All the people who surround the bed witnessed an amazing sight; as each girl kissed Harry; a golden aura appeared around them. The auras worked its way from the spot of the kiss up each of Harry's arms and meeting in the middle of Harry's chest. As the two lights met they doubled in brightness and surrounded all three of them.

When the blackness ended Harry didn't find himself at Hogwarts or Privet drive or the Burrow. He was standing on the sidewalk of a regular muggle neighborhood across from a house he had never known but was intimately familiar with. The house was a regular two story home with a small fenced yard. The grass that covered the gardens was brilliant green but never needed mowing, nor did the flower beds need tending. Inside the house there was a regular kitchen, three bedrooms, and most important there was no cupboard under the steps. He knew several years ago a library had been added to the house, in fact a little less than three years ago it had appeared. The weather was perfect and sunny, but then again it was always perfect and sunny here. There never was darkness in this house. This time though the house seemed to be filled with a vivid golden glowing light that poured out of every window. The light made it easy to see through the windows; Harry could see the kitchen where food materialized without being cooked. And there was the library, he could see the shelves and shelves of books and, there she was, sitting in the chair near the window, reading. Harry couldn't help but smile, she was always there reading when he came here. Harry took a step toward the house as if drawn from an earlier time before he heard the voices of two angels.

"Arry wait for us, we 'ave to go wiz you."

Harry looked away from the house and turned back toward the voices. Fleur and Gabrielle were beside him now and each again took a hand.

"Zis is beautiful," Gabrielle said as she looked around. "Is zis where you grew up 'Arry?"

Harry's thoughts turned to Privet Drive and the image of that house materialized a short way away from them. "No, I.." Harry nodded toward the new image "grew up there," And just as quickly as it had appeared, the image of number four Privet Drive disappeared.

"Where are we 'Arry?" Fleur asked kindly. "It's a beautiful 'ouse."

"Uh, not really anywhere," Harry replied with a sigh. "I... well it's actually just an imaginary house I dreamed up to escape to when times got difficult with my relatives. I would lie in my cup–, on my bed and go to this place in my mind," The words made him remember some of the times that caused him to retreat to this place and those memories started flickering on and off.

Harry looked on in horror at what was happening. He desperately tried to will it to stop, but the memories wouldn't obey him. Worse, the more memories he saw, the more he remembered. There was an image of Harry being thrown into a cupboard with a dingy mattress by a shouting red-faced Uncle Vernon yelling "You'll be lucky if you get out of there this week!" Another of Harry being chased by his cousin and his gang of bullies while Dudley yelled "We're going to get you freak," and another of being chased up a tree by a bulldog while Aunt Marge looked on laughing.

Image after image of the abuse Harry suffered at the hands of his relatives materialized. Harry hated the idea of Fleur and Gabrielle seeing the memories, but they just wouldn't stop. He knew they would now regret who they had chosen. After what felt like an eternity of struggling against his own memories betraying him, he finally gave up. As he continued to stare at the memories, he tried to explain. "I always dreamed of a home like my parents had," Harry started as he tried to prevent any emotions from his voice. It didn't work. Fleur and Gabrielle heard the pain and sadness and could see it in his face. "I don't know what their house looked like so I built this place in my mind. I would imagine I lived here and my parents would be alive; I would celebrate Christmas and...and I just wanted to leave that.." Harry gestured to where the memories where now slowing. His voice cracked. "I'm...I'm sorry, I'm not who you think I am. I...I don't...I..."

"You think zat is who you are?" Fleur asked as her eyes flashed in anger at what she'd seen. "Look at me 'Arry," She said and when Harry did so she continued as she pointed at the memories. "Zat is not you, zose are people who are no better zan ze dirt beneath your shoes."

Harry couldn't hold the eye contact and looked away.

Gabrielle and Fleur looked at each other. They each had an expression of anger at what they'd seen and the desire to give their bondmate the happiness he desired and deserved.

"Zat is not you," Fleur said again, more gently this time. "Take us to your 'eart and let us prove eet. Show us your 'eart. Let us give you our love."

Harry could feel the pull of the Veela magic urging him to go toward the house. A voice flitting though his consciousness, "Just walk in the house and it will all be better," He nodded at Fleur. He looked around again then stepped toward the house. He'd only walked two steps though when an image of Uncle Vernon appeared directly in front of Harry, blocking his way. The large walrus like man waved his fist in Harry's face and yelled. "Where do you think you're going? Get back in your cupboard!" Harry flinched but tried to move past him. Aunt Petunia appeared this time blocking his way. "LOVE?" She scoffed. "Who'd ever love you FREAK? You're not worth the food you eat," Gabrielle tried to pull Harry around the long necked woman. It was Dudley who appeared next. "FREAK! Nobody'll every love a freak like you."

Harry stumbled back. He barely heard Fleur's voice as she said. "Zey're not real 'Arry, ignore zem. We do love you," She pulled him forward, toward the house, toward his love. The effort was futile though. Every path, every step was blocked by another image. Aunt Marge was there with a snarling bulldog, another Vernon and another Dudley all repeating the word "FREAK!" The more Fleur and Gabrielle tried to help Harry fight, the more figures appeared. Finally Harry stood still, unable to move, but the torment never ceased. The images that surrounded him continued their verbal abuse until he collapsed onto the sidewalk. Slowly the house and all that surrounded them crumbled like dust, leaving only darkness and that too faded. Fleur and Gabrielle blinked at the sudden onslaught of bright lights, only to find themselves surrounded by their parents and others in the hospital wing.

Fleur and Gabrielle looked at each other, first in confusion but then they realized what had happened and what it meant to them. They both looked at Harry. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Fleur then looked at her mother and father who had a hopeful look on their face that soon was dashed as she said. "We could not bond."

Those words set off a verbal pandemonium all around the bed. Finally Dumbledore's voice cut through the verbal clatter. "Quiet everyone. Madam Pomfrey, how is Harry?"

"He's unconscious Albus, I think he's in shock," The school nurse responded. "I would like to administer a sleeping potion."

"No, not yet. With so little time left we need to consider other possibilities. We will need him awake as soon as possible, is there anything else you can do?" Professor Dumbledore asked sadly.

"I'll give him a calming draught as soon as he comes around," She said but her look gave a much deeper meaning to Dumbledore.

"Very well Poppy. Miss Delacour," Professor Dumbledore said addressing Fleur, "could you tell us what happened?"

"Oui," Fleur replied. She took a deep breath and then spent a few seconds to recollect what she had witnessed. Finally she was ready. "Ze bonding started out fine. We were at a 'ouse, but it wasn't a real place. It was something 'Arry said 'e dreamed up to escape to when 'e 'ad difficulties when 'e was younger. We saw images of 'im being abused and…"

Professor Dumbledore made a sound as if to say something but decided against it and said. "Sorry, please continue."

"Well, 'Arry told us about 'ow 'e imagined 'imself living zere with 'is parents and 'e was incredibly sad 'eadmaster," Fleur continued. "But just as we started to go toward ze 'ouse zis big man appeared. It was ze same one we 'ad seen abusing 'Arry when 'e was younger and 'e started calling 'Arry a freak. Zen a woman appeared, again she was ze one from ze earlier abuse and she also started calling 'Arry a freak, and more and more kept popping up, we tried to get around zem but more came and kept chanting 'Freak' at 'Arry. We tried to tell 'im to ignore zem but 'e couldn't. It got so bad zat 'Arry just couldn't move. No matter what we tried, it kept going and going. Finally 'Arry just collapsed and ze images and the place all went black and we were back 'ere. Why did it 'appen and what is going to 'appen to Gabrielle and me?" The last questions were to her parents who were ashen faced.

"I don't know ma petite," Mr. Delacour answered. "We will do whatever it takes to find out zough."

"I will go see if I can get a Veela bond expert 'ere immediately," Mrs. Delacour added. "Eadmaster, is zere a Floo connection I can use?"

"By all means, in my office. I will walk you there myself right away," Professor Dumbledore said and turned. He'd only walked a couple of steps when he stopped and turned back. "In fact, may I ask all of you to join us; I would like both of your daughters to do something for me," And with that he started to the door followed by the family Delacour. When Padfoot stood up to follow, Professor Dumbledore motioned him to stay. "Padfoot, please stay with Harry, if he wakes up and we are not here, he will need you. Poppy, how much time do you think we have?"

"Less than eight hours Albus, that is if the original forty-eight hours time period was correct," replied a very grave looking Madam Pomfrey. "Though I would like to consult with the bond expert if I get a chance."

"Then we shall hurry," Professor Dumbledore said. He turned to the Delacours, "Can all of you please hold my arm," He stuck out his left arm. Though they gave the headmaster a strange look, each of the Delacours reached out and grabbed his arm. Dumbledore seemed call into the air "Fawkes," Immediately there was a flash of fire next to the Headmaster's head. A beautiful red and gold phoenix was hovering above him. "I need to be in my office now please Fawkes," Dumbledore told the majestic creature. Fawkes spun to offer his tail feathers to his friend. As Dumbledore touched one, the phoenix beat his wings twice and with another fiery flash, they all found themselves in the Headmaster's office.

"Now Mrs. Delacour, the fireplace is at your disposal. The floo powder is in the light blue canister," Professor Dumbledore said. "Is there anything else you might need? I have contacts in the Department of International Cooperation and with the ICW so if you need anything pushed quickly, let me know."

"Thank you, but I shall be fine."

Professor Dumbledore nodded and then turned to the Fleur and Gabrielle, "Have either of you heard of a Pensieve?"

Both Fleur and Gabrielle shook their heads that they had not.

"Understandable. They are very rare. But in this case I feel it will be very useful. It is a device that allows a person to see copies of another person's memories," Dumbledore explained. "I would like to ask you to share your memories of what happened in the bond. I am hoping I might see something that might help us understand what is happening," He looked over at the girl's father. "Mr. Delacour, Gabrielle is underaged, so I would need your permission for this as well."

"Of course, anything zat will 'elp my daughters," Mr. Delacour said. He had the look of a man who was used to doing much but now was forced to sit and watch, unable to help.

"I am willing professor. I will do anything for 'Arry," Gabrielle replied, "But what do I need to do?"

"And you Fleur?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the older sister.

"I…I don't like the idea of showing 'Arry's secrets. 'E never wanted to talk about 'is childhood,but... but I also think 'e would be in greater pain if something 'appened to Gabrielle or me and we didn't share zem," Fleur said. "I just 'ope 'e will forgive us."

"I am sure he will," The Headmaster said. "Now Fleur, I am going to ask you to go first. All I want you to do is close your eyes and think about what happened. Go slowly; try to remember every detail you can. Now while you are doing that I will be holding my wand next to your head, please do not panic. It will be there only to copy the memory. You'll feel a slight chill in your head as it happens; again this is nothing to worry about. Let me know when you think you're ready."

Before Fleur could reply, Mrs. Delacour came over. "Eadmaster, could you please allow ze Floo to accept a delegate from ze Veela Magical Institute. 'Er name is Rachelle Berceau, one of ze leading experts on Veela bonds."

"Of course," Professor Dumbledore said. He aimed his wand at the fireplace and gave it a slight twist. "It is done. She can come and go for the next forty-eight hours. May I inquire if she is a full Veela?" He asked. "I only ask because if she is going to move around the castle, the other professors and I will need to take certain precautions. We have a castle full of young and shall I say impressionable men that we need to make allowances for, for their safety of course."

"Thank you Professor. I understand your concern for your students; she is 'alf Veela like myself," Mrs. Delacour turned back to the fireplace and started speaking again. Two minutes later she stood back as the green fire blazed higher. A very attractive silvery blonde-haired lady materialized within the flames and walked out of it. She said something to Apolline and shook her hand. Looking around she saw the person she recognized and walked over to Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore, I am very glad to finally get a chance to meet you. Your reputation is of course, legendary. I am Professor Berceau of the Veela Magical Institute. I understand we have an issue with a Veela bond?" She spoke in perfect English.

"Yes Professor Berceau–"

"Rachelle, please."

"Thank you. Please call me Albus. Let me introduce Mademoiselles Fleur and Gabrielle Delacour. We have both of these ladies trying to bond with a young man–"

"A simultaneous bonding?" Professor Berceau asked. "How did that happen?"

"It is a complicated tale of how it happened Rachelle," Professor Dumbledore said "but yes if you mean both ladies declared Harry their bondmate at the same time. More importantly though is the bond attempt has failed and we are running out of time."

"How much time?" Rachelle asked.

"Our resident Healer estimates eight hours or less," The Headmaster said.

"Why so little time?" Rachelle asked

"The initial bond attempt happened when the young man in question was magically and physically exhausted. He was rendered unconscious for three days. The school healer had to put the young women into a deep sleep to prevent the expiration of time while we waited for his recuperation," Dumbledore explained then continued. "Upon awaking we let the three of them enjoy an evening together since the initial bond was um, a one way commitment."

Ms. Berceau looked at the two young ladies in shock. "You didn't?"

Fleur and Gabrielle just nodded as tears came to their eyes.

"Don't be too harsh in your judgment until you can get the whole story Rachelle," Professor Dumbledore said. "There were a lot of issues that caused their declaration and most were not in the control of these ladies."

"Okay Albus, so what is the problem with the bond?" Ms. Berceau asked.

"Harry, that is the name of the young man who is to bond with them, Harry Potter–" Professor Dumbledore started.

"No, not THE Harry Potter?" Rachelle asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Professor Dumbledore replied.

Rachelle turned to Fleur and Gabrielle, "Was that the reason for the–"

"Non," Fleur said defiantly. "Je suis amoureuse de lui."

"You love him? Deeply?"

"Oui, I do. I cared for 'im even before 'e saved our lives. 'E is ze most caring, brave, wonderful person, he is...is...everything."

"Saved your lives? Both of you?" At the nods, Rachelle continued. "Well I am looking forward to that story. Now is the young– is Harry accepting the bond?"

"Oui, 'e even comforted me about eet zis morning," Gabrielle said. A small smile appeared on her face as she remembered her time with Harry.

"Good, you know there is no way to force a person to accept the bond, but if that's not the problem then let's get to the bottom of this issue and get you bonded to your young gentleman," Ms. Berceau said. She turned back to the Headmaster, "Do you know what happened or should I speak with your healer?"

"Madam Pomfrey is our healer. A most skilled woman who I think you should most definitely speak with," Dumbledore said, "But I was just going to share these ladies memories of what happened. Even though they have conveyed a very interesting telling of the events, I would like to see them for myself."

"You're not thinking of Legilimency while the girls are in bondstate are you? It could lead to further complications," Rachelle asked sharply.

"No, not Legilimency, I am planning on using a pensieve," Dumbledore replied. "I am fortunate enough to have one of the few ever created. It is here in my office. With so many years I've found I've accumulated too many thoughts to keep track of. Year after year, I find myself using it more and more often."

"A pensieve? Well that is different. I've never seen a bonding in such a fashion," Rachelle replied in academic excitement. "I am sorry for accusing though. I was just concerned that with legilimency...well I just had an incident involving it and it did not turn out so well."

"Quite all right, I prefer a professor who cares for the safety of their charges," Albus responded. "Something I may have failed at it seems. I'm afraid from what these ladies have said I might be ultimately responsible for this problem. Both in the original bond declaration and the failure of the bonding attempt. But before I rush off to take all the blame, I would like to, as they say in the muggle world, visit the scene of the crime, to see what can be done," Professor Dumbledore turned to Fleur, "Are you ready?"

"Yes 'eadmaster," Fleur answered.

"Very well, now close your eyes and think of what happened. Remember to go slowly and try to remember exactly how it happened. Focus on as much detail as you can," Professor Dumbledore said quietly. As Fleur closed her eyes, he brought his wand up and laid it at her temple. A silvery white substance accumulated upon his wand. Professor Dumbledore brought up a vial and he allowed the substance to fall from his wand into it until finally Fleur's eyes opened and she said "Zats all of it."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said as sat the vial of silvery substance aside. He looked at her sister and gave her smile. "Now Gabrielle, can you do the same for me?"

"Oui," Gabrielle murmured and walked over to him. Repeating the same advice and steps, another vial was soon filled.

"Professor Berceau, I would like to look at these first," Dumbledore said holding up the vials, "But afterwards I will have you join me."

"Very well, I shall start discussing the events with the ladies; hopefully it will give me a better understanding to what the problem might be."

"Of course. I bow to your knowledge in these matters so please let me know if I've done something wrong or overlooked anything," Dumbledore replied. He poured the first vial into the Pensieve and disappeared into the basin. He returned a few minutes later with unshed tears glistening in his eyes. He spent a few moments in silent contemplation of the decisions he had made when it concerned Harry.

"Where did I fail? How could I have allowed such things to happen?" Dumbledore asked himself. The memory of that night so many years previous came readily enough. The death of the Potters and the uncertainty of everything that had happened. Dumbledore knew that baby Harry had faced potential retaliations from the leaderless Death Eaters and in light of what happened to the Longbottoms, his fears had been confirmed. With the prophecy indicating that Harry was the only hope of the Wizarding world, his safety had been Dumbledore's paramount concern and the blood wards that could be used at his mother's family was the most effective protection possible. He'd even placed Arabella Figg in the area to watch over Harry, to ensure against exactly what seemed to have happened. He knew that Arabella could sniff out an abused cat seven blocks away and would fight a hippogriff to save it. Dumbledore had presumed she would be able to do the same for Harry. Yes she had mentioned he was withdrawn and shy, how he was chased and beat up by his cousin, and various minor instances of neglect he seemed to be suffering, but she had never indicated anything to the level he'd just witnessed.

Dumbledore remembered that this past summer, Sirius had tried to tell him that something seemed off with Harry and his letters, but again he hadn't considered it serious enough to check into. He now knew he had failed Harry. After a few more moments of consideration he turned to Rachelle, "I apologize for not taking you with me the first time, but I needed to make sure that there weren't…er…other problems that revealed themselves."

"What do you mean Albus?" Rachelle Berceau asked. "Anything that I need to be concerned about?"

"No, it is not an issue," When Rachelle pressed the issue, the Headmaster continued. "You are of course familiar with Harry Potter's scar?" Rachelle nodded. "Well there are…issues with his scar that I thought might have caused this to occur. Remnants of an unsurvivable curse," Of course the remnants of the curse that Dumbledore was concerned about was the part of Voldemort's soul he suspected and feared was in Harry. "But as I said, there were no indications that was the issue."

"What did you suspect?" Rachelle continued to press.

"Not something I can discuss, at least not in the present time," Dumbledore told the Veela bond expert. "I truly feel it is not the issue. Now I think it's time for you and me to venture together. I do feel I must warn you, what you are going to see is quite disturbing. I knew there were some issues in his home life, but I didn't know it was as bad as you'll witness. Now are you familiar with the use of a Pensieve?" When Professor Berceau shook her head, he explained. "All you have to do is put your face into the liquid and you will fall into the memory."

"Easy enough," Rachelle answered and within a few seconds they both found themselves looking at the simple but beautiful two story house that was a part of Harry's mind. She and Dumbledore watched the memory unfold. They saw Harry's smile as he looked at the house and his first step toward it. They Heard Fleur and Gabrielle call out to him and then when they caught up to him, they spoke. An image appeared, one that Dumbledore recognized as Number Four Privet Drive, but it quickly vanished only to be followed by images of the physical, verbal and physiological abuse that Harry had suffered at the hands of relatives. On and on the images continued until finally after an exchange of words between Harry and Fleur, they started toward the home. Dumbledore and Rachelle continued to watch as the depictions of Harry's relatives appeared and blocked their paths while lambasting Harry with their verbal assaults. The watched Fleur and Gabrielle struggle but finally fail as Harry became unresponsive. Finally all went black and Rachelle and Albus were back in his office, both had looks upon their face that indicated they had witnessed something very unpleasant.

Rachelle was the first to speak, "Who were those people? Are they real or made up like the house?"

"Oh they're real," Professor Dumbledore said softly. "They are the only remaining relatives of Harry. He's lived with them for the last thirteen years. And I must take the entire blame for it. I placed him there when his parents died. I had good reasons for doing so, but I can see now that I should have acted sooner to protect him. But for now that is the past and we must do what we can to protect the young man's future. Is there anything that you were able to discern from that review Rachelle?"

"The first thing I can say is his love is intact," Rachelle said. "You could tell by the yellow glow coming from the house. In fact he...he, well he has an over abundance of love to give."

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked.

"Understand that the bondimage, which we just witnessed, is a magically induced review of a person's heart," Rachelle explained. "There is no hiding the true love from the Veela magic. Now I've never seen one in a Pensieve before but extensive questioning in my research shows that normally the house would reflect the security and his heart would be inside of it, in something like a closet or a box, or wherever he usually stores his most prized possessions. But it seems Harry's heart is represented by the entire house we just saw. The golden glow is his love. As I said, if he is imagining that house to scale, the love he has far exceeds any that I have come across in my research."

"So..."

"So with the love intact, I feel confident the bond will occur if we can just get him and the ladies to his heart, or that house."

Fleur and Gabrielle were hanging onto every word spoken by Rachelle; they both knew that the hope for their future was centered on what this woman could do. At the last words that the bond could still happen they both turned to each other and shared a small smile of hope.

"What is causing him to imagine his relatives blocking his path?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's easy, self doubt. Those relatives of his seemed to have induced an inability in Harry to readily accept love, going so far as to almost reject it as possible. The irony of it, most likely it is the one thing he truly desires. Is it accurate to say he has no one that shows him love?"

"Recently he discovered his godfather. I am positive that they have a loving relationship."

"Really, and they spend a lot of time together?" Rachelle asked somewhat surprised.

"Uh, no. There are complications and his godfather had to leave shortly after they found each other."

"So he finds a person who says they love him, and that person leaves very soon after," Rachelle stated. "That might have added to the damage. Harry was again told he was loved and that person disappeared."

"But they write all the time, and have seen each other a couple of times since then."

"Professor Dumbledore, The Veela bond is love, so love is what I specialize in," Rachelle started, "You can NOT give love with words written on paper. You can show caring and support with such things, and as bad as Harry has been treated, he might think that is love, but it isn't. How many times has Harry been told he was loved to his face, shown he was loved with simple actions like a hug?"

"We did last night," Fleur said. "'Arry was most kind, but 'e did say zat ze kiss 'e and I shared was 'is first one."

"Well that is something," Rachelle said. "He didn't shy away from you hug or kiss?"

"Non," Fleur replied.

"Good, then it's just a matter of fighting his self doubt," Rachelle frowned in concentration for a few seconds. Finally she turned to Dumbledore. "Does Harry have any close friends, someone he trusts completely?"

"He has two very close friends. They have been friends since they arrived in this castle," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Ron and 'Ermione?" Fleur asked. "'E told us about zem last night. About zeir adventures zey 'ave shared."

Professor Dumbledore thought of Harry's two best friends and then a thought and a memory came to him. "Rachelle, can you join me in the pensieve one more time? I think we overlooked something very important."

"Sure, but what do you think we missed?" The half Veela asked.

"I prefer to show you. I'm hoping you can tell me what it means," A minute later the two of them were back in the memory as it was first starting. "I was concentrating on the events and didn't pay too much attention to the house last time, but look in that window on the left. There is a person there. See her?"

"Yes, but that is his heart, which means…love. He loves her," Rachelle said. "Do you know who she is? She could be the key to everything."

"Most definitely. That Rachelle is Hermione Granger, the friend Fleur just mentioned," Dumbledore said and they found themselves back out in the office again.

"Albus, I think we need to speak to Miss Granger immediately," Professor Berceau said.