The Veela Bond

"Exactly. Veela magic is born in fire very much like the phoenix's. When she was deep underwater she mentally was unable to call for the fire part of her magic and it left her magic much weaker," Dumbledore explained. "That doesn't mean she isn't able to. If she were to go into the water and practice, she would eventually be able to pull only from her witch's power and it would be effective. But she probably has never needed to. Now back to that delightful tale."

Harry continued, telling Dumbledore how he had swum with her to protect her in case of more grindylow attacks.

"Noble as always Harry."

Harry continued telling about getting to the village and getting Ron and helping Fleur with Gabrielle. How he had waited for Cedric and Krum to get Cho and Hermione before leaving.

"We heard that part from the merpeople, again noble, though you might hear differently from some of your classmates."

Harry told Dumbledore how Fleur had come back to be with him after she had first started swimming away with Gabrielle. Dumbledore was most intrigued that Fleur had returned to Harry's side instead of continuing on.

"I don't know why she did sir. I just couldn't leave Hermione or Cho there."

"Yes and I'm sure if Fleur hadn't been with you, you would have made sure Gabrielle was safe as well, wouldn't you Harry?"

Harry thought of that, "Yes sir, I would have."

"You have a noble spirit, but again you will probably hear differently from others."

Harry continued telling Dumbledore how, once Krum and Cedric had claimed their hostages he once again swam protection for Fleur to make sure she got to the surface safely. He explained how he saw Gabrielle start to glow, how the bubblehead charm had failed and the grindylows attacked again. Harry explained how he'd pushed Ron up and swam to help but his gillyweed expired. That he used his last air to send the spells that drove off the grindylows then helped Fleur get Gabrielle to the surface. Then remembering how Dumbledore had taken Gabrielle from his spell, "Sir, thank you for saving Gabrielle, I couldn't hold the levitation any longer."

"Harry, I didn't save her, you did. You saved both Fleur's and Gabrielle's lives while risking your own in doing so," Dumbledore said quietly, he looked again at the ladies on the beds beside Harry, "We thought we had enough safeguards in place. I just never considered a Veela transformation at that time," He dabbed the corner of his eye with a finger before continuing. "The transformation knocked her out of the spell she was under. Harry if it hadn't been for you, Gabrielle and Fleur would have died under that lake," He paused to let Harry understand what he had done. "Harry, do you remember what happened when you got to the platform?"

"We went to see how Gabrielle was; Fleur said she wasn't breathing when we surfaced," Harry started.

"Yes, she was correct, but as you saw, Madame Pomfrey did her usual magic and brought her around in no time. What else do you remember?"

"Fleur said something and Gabrielle also," Harry said and then blushing "They both kissed me, but when they did I felt something and I saw two birds surrounded by fire or at least I thought I did, and the next thing I remember was waking up here."

"Do you remember what they said?" Dumbledore asked.

"Something about love and bonds."

"Yes, they both invoked deep Veela magic," Dumbledore stopped and again looked at the unconscious forms of Fleur and Gabrielle. "They initiated a love bond with you Harry."

"What is that sir?" Harry asked but had a horrible feeling in his stomach that he really didn't want to know.

"Ah, well Harry think of it as a Veela wedding vows."

"Wedding vows? I'm married? How–?" Harry started.

"Maybe that was a bad comparison. No you're not married, at least not if you don't want to be," Dumbledore started, but seeing Harry let out a sigh of relief, "it's much deeper than marriage, at least for them."

"WHAT?"

"Harry, they connected their lives to you. In Veela terms it is called a bondmate," Dumbledore said. "Now you can reject the bonding but there would be consequences."

"What kind of consequences?" Harry asked quietly.

"Nothing on your part, but the Delacours, well, Harry you have to understand they have given you their love," Dumbledore explained. "If you reject it and not complete the bond, it disappears and those two ladies will never be the same."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, somehow knowing the answer was not going to be something he wanted to hear.

Dumbledore again looked sadly at the Delacours, "The bond is formed by Veela magic from every ounce of love in their hearts. If you accept it, the love will be freely shared amongst all of you, but if you reject it, they will live the rest of their lives with no way to love again. That usually means they will go insane or worse."

"But why did they do it?" Harry asked.

"I don't truly know, it could be that you saved their lives, or the dramatic experience you shared," Dumbledore said. "But I will tell you this; they each had already found love in their hearts for you before they committed themselves to you."

"They loved me?" Harry asked as he looked inquisitively over at Fleur.

"The bond cannot be formed out of nothing; there must be love for the individual before it can start. The love might not have been deep or it might have been from the depths of their hearts but it was there."

Harry continued to stare at Fleur, "She didn't even know I existed, I was just a little boy to her. How did she love me?"

"I can't answer that Harry, though returning to your side under the lake might start to answer that question. I think even if she hadn't realized it at the time, love was what brought her back to you. I do know that if you accept the bond, she'll be glad to tell you, that is if she knows herself. For you see, in the bond there will be no secrets between the two of you," Dumbledore said.

"What do you mean?"

"Fleur and Gabrielle's parents were kind enough to give me a deeper understanding of exactly what this bond entails," Dumbledore explained. "Part of it seems to be the ability of the bonded to communicate silently."

"They'll be able to read my mind?"

"More like your thoughts, unless you are actively thinking something it would not work. They couldn't just go dive into your memories."

"Oh," Harry said. He put his head back and stared at the ceiling for a whole minute before he turned his gaze upon the older Delacour. "Professor, um..." Harry asked finally. "What do I do?"

"That is entirely up to you Harry; though your options are simple enough. You can accept both bondings and share your life with two very lovely young ladies," Seeing the look in Harry's eyes, "Yes, since the bond is permanent you would eventually probably marry them both."

"How can I marry both of them sir, isn't that, well against the law or something?"

"In normal circumstances, yes it is Harry," Dumbledore said. "But this is a magical bond and as such recognized by all as a justifiable exception to the law. Now your other option is to only accept one of the bonds, in which you would condemn the other to the life of insanity I mentioned earlier. Though this is an option, the results of such a choice would most likely create an undesirable problem within the bond of the other one, not to mention their family. And finally you can reject both bonds, live your life as you want and both women would be as I mentioned earlier."

"I have no choice then sir," Harry said as again his eyes drifted to the sleeping form of Fleur.

"You always have a choice, but sometimes the choices are not always equal."

"Are they sleeping or unconscious?" Harry asked.

"We had to put them in a deep sleep until you awakened," Dumbledore explained, "Usually the bond must be formed within forty-eight hours of its initiation and we had no idea when you would awaken. Not even the strongest of Madame Pomfrey's restorative potions could bring you around. It seems in your weakened magical and physical state, the energy from the dual bond initiation overwhelmed your body and magical core."

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Three days, and no before you ask, the bond formation will not continue until the ladies awake," Dumbledore said. "But we cannot keep them out for more than another two days."

"So I can talk to them, before the bond?" Harry asked. "I mean I have never even spoken to Gabrielle and now I have to decide if I want to spend the rest of my life with her?"

"Of course Harry. But before we bring the ladies around, may I suggest speaking to the ladies' parents and maybe to a certain canine we are both fond of?"

"Uh, how about just Si..I mean Padfoot. I think I would prefer to speak to uh, them," nodding to the beds beside him, "before talking to their parents," Harry replied.

A twinkle emerged in Dumbledore's eyes, "Yes, meeting the girlfriend's parents can be quite daunting especially when you didn't even know you had a girlfriend. But understand they are very much concerned for their children. They know you have their daughters' very lives in your hands."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"I do believe Madame Pomfrey wishes to check you over one more time." Dumbledore said. "Once she finishes please come along to my office. My favorite candy of the month just happens to be Chocolate frogs."

....

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