Chapter 10

Harry was walking towards the common room, each step clicking with determination. It had been busy two days, trying to ignore Umbridge's constant insults, not helped by the ever-increasing powers of the disciplinary squad. Annoyingly, most of the squad, coming from the pureblood families, knew Occlumency, and while he could break them with putting enough time, they weren't worth the time investment as well. They were like mosquitoes, small, worthless, but annoying in large quantities.

Still, he could feel his mood improving when he focused on what awaited him in the common room. It had been two days since his last encounter with Hermione, enough time for her to gather herself a bit. It was time for another session. Now, all he needed was to separate her from the crowd, and another stress-relieving session was his.

Distracted by his plans, he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings, which was why he was surprised when a familiar voice called his name, just before he took the last turn which would bring him to Common Room entrance.

"Hi, Ginny, how are you?" Harry said as he turned, only to see Ginny waiting at the entrance of a classroom, a downcast expression on her face. "You look down, is there something wrong?"

"Can we speak for a moment," she said, avoiding his gaze, which was good, because it prevented her from seeing Harry's smirk. After all, he had a good idea about the topic she wanted to speak.

"Sure," he answered. "I always have time for our team's star seeker. Ask away?"

Ginny took a step to the side, wordlessly inviting him to the room, but he continued to stand in the middle of the corridor, acting like he had missed the invite. "Um, it's a topic I rather not talk in the middle of a corridor," she said. "Can we talk it in the classroom."

"Sure," Harry said, acting obvious to the weight in her voice. He walked inside, and pulled the door close after passing. "Go ahead."

It was difficult to keep his neutrality while watching her fragile expression, trembling as she struggled to bring herself to the topic. "It's about the money I borrowed from you…" she started, but her voice faded towards the end, becoming indecipherable.

"Oh, yes, the loan," Harry continued, using the opportunity she had given. "Convenient, because I was just about to come to you about it tomorrow. I have a sudden need for it." He paused for a second, enjoying her rising desperation. "Still, I wouldn't have guessed that your family sent back the portion you used already."

"They didn't," she whispered, her blush quickly climbing to catch her hair color.

"Not a bother," he added instantly. "Just give back the portion you hadn't spent, and the rest, you can give whenever you have it. Two galleons are more than enough to handle my sudden need."

It took several seconds for her to gather enough courage to speak. "I don't have two galleons left either," she managed to add, though Harry had to strain himself to hear.

"You don't?" he asked, acting clueless. Then, he shrugged. "Well, two extra galleons would have come handy for my date, but one should be enough as well. I will probably need to expand my emergency funds, but that's not a huge deal, so don't worry about it."

At that point, Harry was impressed that Ginny was still conscious, with most of her blood rushing to her face. "I don't have a galleon as well," Ginny whispered.

He could see her legs starting to tremble with stress, but decided to push her a bit more. "Really? How many sickles you have left. As long as there are more than ten sickles, I should be able to stretch them for my plan."

This time, silence stretched for more than a minute before Ginny could respond. "None," she murmured. "I'm sorry," she continued, much louder. "I have spent all of it."

He made a big show of taking a deep breath. "I see," he said. "I'm sorry to say that, Ginny, but I can't help but feel disappointed in you. You borrowed that money as an emergency fund, to be paid back instantly. And now, you're here, telling me that you spent all of it."

"I'm sorry," Ginny repeated, her face redder than her hair.

"You might be, but it doesn't change the fact that you let me down," Harry continued, not bothering to keep his comments soft. "Is that all?" he added, his voice much colder.

"No," she stammered. "I'm sorry, but I need to ask you one more thing…" She took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that I don't have right to ask you that, but during shopping, I had to borrow a galleon from a friend, and I need to pay it back as soon as possible…"

Her voice dwindled, but Harry hadn't needed for her to complete it. "And you're asking me to lend you another galleon, never mind that I won't see it again if your performance with the rest is any indicator. I don't have to tell you my answer, right?"

"Please, Harry," she said, much louder, but hadn't changed her position. "I know I messed up, but I'll pay you as soon as possible. I'll work with twins during the summer and pay you back."

Harry sighed. "Look, Ginny. It's not about the money. I have enough of it in my vault. But the problem is the access. I can't get any more until the summer break, and you're asking me to lend you my last galleon, just when I need it." He waited for a moment, hoping for her to ask for what she needed, but she stayed silent, desperation thick enough to break her. He decided to nudge her a bit. "I have a date coming up, and without spending some money, I have no chance of convincing her for a bit of intimacy." He sighed theatrically before adding one more sentence, trying to sound like he was joking. "So, unless you're willing to suck my cock instead of my date, I can't lend you any money."

It was fun to watch Ginny dash away, overwhelmed with the sudden turn of discussion. She left the door open in her wake, creaking lazily, to the great contrast to her panic. Harry wondered if she would have enough courage to take the obvious bait…

The discussion with Ginny had been short, but oddly, it was enough to whet out his appetite even further. He decided to find a way to spend some time. He pulled the Marauder's Map, looking for an entertaining distraction. He could see Hermione, but she was in her dorm, forcing him to look for a different name. Not because it would be impossible to call Hermione outside. Even sneaking inside the girls' side was something he could do, but he looked for an easier score.

His eyes traced towards Hufflepuff's section, finding the name he was searching in the middle of her common room. Pity, he thought. He could have arranged an accidental meeting with Susan if she had been outside, but it was not an option when she was in the depths of the badger lair.

He was about to turn his gaze towards the Ravenclaw tower, considering the merits of engineering a meeting with Cho when he noticed an unexpected name walking in the corridors of Hogwarts. Fleur Delacour.

"What an unexpected surprise," he murmured, several select memories jumping into his mind, particularly some from the second task, where she had been wearing a shimmering white swimsuit, a memory that shone in more than one dream. He changed direction towards the nearest shortcut, hoping to cut paths with her before she could leave the school grounds. It was an opportunity he needed to use no matter what.

Two minutes later, he was leaving the passage he had covered, the map was safely back in his pocket. It was for the best if she lacked the knowledge of his accurate tracking methods. The passage had just closed behind him when Fleur turned, coming face to face with him. "Fleur," he exclaimed in an exaggerated surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Harry, what a surprise," she answered, but he could sense a generous amount of anger in her voice. "I was here on behalf of Gringotts, talking the headmistress about the school account," she added.

Harry nodded sagely. "It explains your anger," he added.

"No-" she stammered. "It's not-" she tried to recover her slip up, clearly trying not to talk bad about someone she had a business relationship with. But keeping any sense of professionalism was difficult when talking with that pink toad. She looked around, and seeing that they were alone, she shuddered. "Yes," she said in defeat. "I'll admit. She is a bit difficult to work with."

"You're preaching the choir," he answered. "This year, I had the pleasure of being her favorite target. As you can imagine, it's fun."

"My condolences," Fleur answered. "Listening to her for just one hour was enough, I can't imagine suffering her for a year."

From her body language, Harry could sense she was planning to leave. So, he decided to take a bit of risk, and sent a mental probe to her mind, as soft as he could manage. As he expected, he met with some resistance to mental intrusion. Not only she was a top student, but also she was working in a bank, handling a lot of confidential information. Mental protection was probably a must for it.

But luckily for him, she was both angry and frustrated. And both of those emotions, while helpful to push out an intrusion when caught, had a negative effect on one's ability to detect one. Without that, Harry didn't think he would be able to slip inside her mind without being caught.

Even with all the advantage, however, he knew his time in her mind was limited. So, as quick as he could, he reached all the positive sensations he could find about himself, trying to pull them into the surface of her mind, tied to a sensation of crush. Probably the most complicated thing he tried to do, not made any easier by the fact that he had to complete it in a few seconds, before the silence stretches out awkwardly.

But not all was bad, he realized as he tried to pull the positive thoughts related to him, and came up with several strong ones. He didn't have time to go into detail for the each of them, but he could see that the majority belonged to the second task, where he saved her sister selflessly, and the third one, where he blasted off a mind-controlled Krum to save her from torture. The others, he wasn't able to identify before bundling them under a sensation of crush, and a desire to spend time with him.

Normally, it would be impossible to evoke that sensation, but apparently, saving her life, and life of her beloved family members, gave him a good head-start. He could see it working thanks to the sudden brightening in her eyes. "It's a pity that you seem to be in a hurry," he said. "It had been a while since we last talked. I would have been fun."

"Yes, it would have been," Fleur answered, her hand jumping to her hair, twirling an errant wisp of hair. Harry could hear real regret in her tone, showing that his intervention was taking hold. "Unfortunately, headmistress had been very clear that she doesn't appreciate my presence in the school, that I need to leave without delay."

"Truly a pity," Harry answered, copying her wistful tone. Then, he smirked like he had a sudden idea. "Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't join you in the Hogsmeade for a drink or two."

"Really," she said excitedly before reality asserted itself. "But you are not allowed to go outside the school, are you? Won't that be a problem if you get caught."

"Leave that to me, I have my ways," he answered. "What Umbridge doesn't know is her problem. You just go to Three Broomsticks, ask for a private room and order some drinks. I'll be there before you could even sit to your seat."

"Really," Fleur answered. "I didn't know you were a delinquent, Harry, sneaking out of school for drinks."

"There is a lot you don't know about me," Harry answered, doing his best to put a roguish smirk on his lips. He made sure not to exaggerate the expression though, not wanting to come across as an off-putting braggart. He had no intention of missing that beautiful opportunity. The other girls were beautiful in their own way, but none of them could compare the goddess that was Fleur. He couldn't wait to defile her perfection. "Anyways, let's not spend too much time where that toad could catch us. Don't make me wait too much," he answered.

"I don't know, Harry," Fleur answered, her a playful smile on her lips. "That sound like a challenge, claiming that you can arrive sooner than I could despite needing to sneak."

"Only if you are willing to lose," Harry answered.

"Oh, really," Fleur answered haughty, even in playfulness, managing to come across too arrogant, begging Harry to erase it instantly. "That sounds like challenge accepted. What's the bet."

"A favor," Harry completed rapidly. "No restriction, no question," he said, and her face suddenly losing her certainty, aware just how much leeway it gave to him. "If you can handle it, of course," Harry added. He wished that tweaking her emotions to make sure she accepted was an option, but with her anger dispersed, he wasn't willing to risk it.

Luckily, she turned out to be prideful enough to make it a non-issue. "I accept," she said. "See you in Three Broomsticks," she added before dashing away, leaving a crystal laugh behind.

Harry smirked at her poor attempt at cheating. He waited until she disappeared at the end of the corridor, then walked into the nearest shortcut, pulling his cloak on himself. He didn't waste any time before dashing towards the secret passage that connected directly to Three Broomstick, not wanting to waste any time. He had a feeling that Fleur was going to apparate the moment she cleared the school grounds. He didn't have any time to waste.

Thankfully, he was in decent shape, so a forced march through the tunnel only made him breathe a bit harder rather than leaving him a panting mess. Even then, he barely managed to clear his objective. He was just stepping out of the basement, still wrapped in his invisibility cloak, when he saw Fleur entering through the door. He stayed close as Fleur talked with Rosmerta, asking for a private room, but then, he walked in front of them when Rosmerta was pointing towards the room. He slipped inside before Fleur could, and walked behind a column, where he was hidden from the sight.

He waited until Fleur closed the door and was alone in the room to pull off his cloak, and he stepped into the middle of the room. "Impressive speed," he said.

Fleur's victorious glee melted into a playful annoyance. "How?" she murmured. "You weren't at the entrance, and she just gave me the room."

"That's … a secret," Harry said playfully. "Anyways, what do you prefer, wine or beer?"

"Wine, of co'urse," she said, her accent flaring for a moment. "Not that you barbarians know how to make a decent wine." Her nose rose in an exaggerated display of pride, enough to make it a caricature of a movement.

"Pardon me, your majesty," he answered. "That was my bad. How can I dare to speak about your choice of drink." He chose a seat for himself as he spoke. He enjoyed the way Fleur was acting, for once actively trying to integrate herself to the conversation rather than standing away haughty. The fake crush was definitely working as intended, though Harry was aware he couldn't rely on it for a lot. It was patch-work manipulation that wouldn't last for more than a few hours of direct interaction. He needed to reinforce it.

Before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Fleur turned towards the door, and Harry used the opportunity to slip under his cloak. The expression of shock on Fleur's face when she turned back to Harry, only to meet with an empty space, was delicious.

"Come in," Fleur called, her eyes still around the room, looking for him. Harry walked behind the same column he stepped behind as Fleur ordered a bottle of wine, of which Rosmerta delivered with a wave of her wand. Harry stepped out of the column the moment Rosmerta slammed the door. Fleur looked at him suspiciously, trying to understand what he had done, but she was too prideful to ask after Harry made it a challenge.

Harry filled two glasses with wine, but he carefully positioned himself between Fleur and the glasses, and cast a modified switching spell on two glasses, ensuring that wine would be slowly siphoned from his glass to hers. There wasn't any harm if she would get a little bit tipsy. Poor decision making would only make things easier for him.

"To our surprise meeting," Fleur said as she raised her glass.

"To your presence, brightening this dreary piece of land," Harry countered with a compliment, making a slight blush spread through to her face. She mumbled a word of appreciation before taking a big sip from her glass. Harry made sure to raise his simultaneously, sipping barely enough to wet his tongue. He didn't drink much, because they only had one bottle, and Harry wanted her to drink all of it. Weakening her decision-making capabilities would never hurt. "So, how is life," Harry asked, intentionally directing an open-ended question to her.

"It has been well," Fleur said, launching a casual explanation on life after graduation, and about her family. Harry made sure to look interested, nodding whenever appropriate. He also made sure that he had been refilling their glasses frequently. Soon, there was a slight pinkness on Fleur's cheeks as the wine made her slightly tipsy.

"So, what made you stay back in Britain rather than returning to France," Harry asked, after a while.

"That's a complicated question," Fleur said, but she smiled happily, obviously happy with the attention he was showing to her life choices. "At first, it was to get better in English, trying to get rid of my accent. Then I managed to get a good internship post in Gringotts." She shrugged. "It was supposed to be temporary, but somehow, I ended up liking England more than I had assumed." Her smirk widened. "Apparently, not every part of it is as dreary as Hogwarts."

"Hey," Harry cut her playfully. "Don't mess with Hogwarts, it's one of the best things about this country."

"Really," Fleur said, her head raised in an exaggerated smugness. "Like what?"

"We have an amazing lake, for example," Harry said.

"Don't talk to me about that horrible pit," Fleur said with an exaggerated shudder. "I don't want to think about its monster-filled depths. The task was more than enough."

"Hey, the second task was not all bad," Harry countered. "I seem to remember some very impressive sights."

"Like what…" Fleur started, only to realize his gaze, pointed at her, and his suggestive smile. She blushed. "It's too bad that was the only place to swim in magical side. We have so many magical pools in France. It's one of the things I miss the most."

Harry smirked at the opportunity. "Who said that's the only place to swim? We have an amazing pool at Hogwarts."

"Really?" Fleur asked, excited. "I didn't know that. I have asked a couple of students, and they told to me that there isn't any."

Harry was willing to bet that Fleur had asked other female students, who had a vested interest to keep her away from anywhere with swimsuit requirement. "We have an amazing one in Hogwarts."

"Really, nobody had mentioned it before. Are visitors allowed to use it?" she asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately, it's only for Prefects. Not even all students can access it." With that, Fleur's fledging excited smile died down. "Well, at least that's the official position. Luckily, I do have the password for it," he added smugly.

"Really?" Fleur said.

"Sure, we can even go for it now," Harry said. "That's, of course, if you're not afraid of a bit of rule-breaking," Harry didn't even need to hear her answer. The sudden excitement on her face was answer enough.