Special. A Not So Simple Search Pt 2

  “Mm…?”

  Fleur leaned forward again with mild curiosity, while Tommy, in her arms, also tilted ahead, tugging at her collar as if determined to see better, clearly interested.

  And then she managed to catch fragments of their voices.

  “Why should I do it?” Viktor said, his expression genuinely irritated.

  “Oh? You will not?” Daphne replied with an almost delighted smile, nearly mocking, as she pulled what looked like photographs from her pocket and began fanning herself with them. “That is fine. Do not do it. It is not necessary.”

  She fanned herself harder, and one of the photos slipped from her hand.

  Viktor’s eyes widened as he tried to catch it, but Daphne was faster and grabbed it first.

  “Oops,” she said lightly, sliding it back into place. “They almost fell. How unfortunate. They could have ended up in anyone’s hands. Perhaps even that woman… Rita Skeeter. Yes? That would make for another lovely headline in the paper.”

  She sounded exactly like a villain who truly enjoyed being one.

  Viktor stared at her for a moment before lowering his head toward her.

  “I apologize for my words. I will do it properly,” he said, his tone shifting at once into something far more subdued.

  Daphne gave him a deeply satisfied smile… before her gaze shifted toward where Fleur had been watching.

  But Fleur had already ducked down with Tommy, both of them covering their mouths.

  As if they had just witnessed something they were never meant to see.

  Fleur quickly moved away without a word until they were far enough from the bridge.

  “Fuuu…” she exhaled softly. “The villain’s friends are definitely villains too,” she murmured under her breath.

  Tommy nodded very seriously.

  Even if the villain Fleur was referring to happened to be his own brother.

  “What are you doing?”

  A voice behind her made her start slightly. She turned quickly and found Draco standing there, looking first at her… and then at Tommy, who wore the exact same faintly startled expression.

  Once they realized it was only Draco, they relaxed.

  “Mm. So now you have moved on to kidnapping children. Well… I cannot say I did not expect it,” Draco remarked dryly.

  “What? No!” Fleur protested, indignant. “Professor Wanda asked me to take him to Harry. Do you know where he is?” she asked quickly, ignoring the shameless teasing. She was quite used to it by now.

  “Harry? Mm. He said he was going to deceive a girl and I have not seen him since,” Draco replied calmly. “But he should…” He glanced around, as if considering whether to add something more, but decided against it.

  Fleur narrowed her eyes.

  “Mm. Yes. Typical,” she said, a faint edge in her voice.

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  Draco studied her for a moment.

  “Well, it will not take you long to find him. Just call him,” he said before turning and walking away as though he had no interest in speaking with her any further.

  “What do you mean?” Fleur asked after him.

  But he did not answer. He simply kept walking.

  “What do you think he meant?” Fleur asked Tommy.

  The baby, who obviously could not speak, merely lifted his tiny shoulders, equally clueless.

  Fleur chose to ignore Draco’s words and continued her search. The castle, as always, was vast and complicated. Corridors that bent at strange angles. Staircases that seemed to move of their own will. One even forced her to duck beneath a portrait, while another led into a completely useless passage that ended nowhere.

  At one point she crossed paths with Hermione.

  For some reason, Hermione was hanging from a wall, fastening what appeared to be some kind of object that looked distinctly dangerous. And she was doing it with a rather dark smile on her face.

  Fleur once again had the unsettling impression that she was right.

  All of Harry’s friends seemed slightly evil.

  So she decided to keep walking. Better not to disturb her in whatever she was planning. She had no desire to become a witness to a crime.

  Fleur stepped out of a hidden passage concealed behind a curtain, her expression slightly annoyed at not being able to find Harry quickly.

  “Where could that four-eyed playboy villain have disappeared to?” she muttered tiredly.

  Tommy let out a small laugh at the title given to his brother.

  “Are you looking for Harry?”

  The voice behind her startled her yet again.

  She turned and found Astoria, Luna, and Ginny standing in front of her. All three were watching her attentively… and with a certain interest.

  “Why do you always appear out of nowhere?” Fleur murmured after the fright. Then she cleared her throat. “Yes, I am looking for Harry. Do you know where he is, or have you seen him?” she asked with a polite smile. It was not as if she had spoken to them much before, and truthfully, she did not know them very well.

  Luna, upon noticing little Tommy, approached happily and offered him a few sweets. The baby accepted them without hesitation, as if they were genuine treasures.

  “We have not seen him. But he must be nearby,” Luna said calmly, looking at Fleur with a serene smile.

  “Eh?”

  “He is never very far. And never very close either. Harry is strange, is he not?” Astoria said with amusement, glancing at her friends.

  They both nodded lightly.

  “Harry is Harry, after all,” Luna added softly.

  Which only left Fleur more confused.

  Meanwhile, for some reason, the third girl, Ginny, continued staring at her as if studying her. Her expression was entirely serious.

  “Um… is something wrong?” Fleur asked, addressing Ginny directly.

  “No. Nothing,” Ginny replied flatly before walking past her, as though she intended to ignore her completely.

  Astoria and Luna exchanged a look at their friend’s behavior, both smiling faintly.

  “You just have to call him and he will come,” Astoria said with an amused smile before walking past Luna and following Ginny.

  “Harry always appears when we call him for sweets,” Luna added before trailing after the other two.

  And then the three of them vanished as they turned the corner of the corridor.

  Fleur remained staring at their backs until they disappeared entirely, thoroughly confused. Then she looked down at Tommy, who seemed far more occupied trying to free a piece of candy that had become stuck in his tiny cloak of doom.

  Fleur smiled faintly and unwrapped it for him.

  She continued walking a little farther down the corridor, but the girls’ words echoed in her mind. And Draco’s had been nearly the same.

  “Ah… this is so ridiculous,” she muttered, brushing her hair back with her free hand.

  Then she looked ahead and, with a hint of resignation, called out loudly:

  “Harry!”

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then she felt a faint shift of air beside her. As if someone had stepped into a space that had been empty just a second before.

  “What?”

  The voice appeared suddenly at her side.

  Fleur jumped so violently she nearly lost her balance, and her scream startled Tommy, who clung tightly to her. Both of them turned toward the owner of the voice.

  Harry was standing there.

  Calm as ever, watching her with that amused, teasing smile that irritated her so much.

  “You! Why do you always appear like that?” Fleur exclaimed, genuinely annoyed at being startled yet again.

  “Ta ta ta!” Tommy shouted as well, apparently outraged, though no one quite knew what he was saying.

  Harry laughed at their reactions.

  “Just in time,” he said, looking at Fleur with a softer smile. “I was looking for you.”

  “Mm… me?” Fleur asked, confused.

  “Yes. You remember you still owe me a favor. Well, I would like to collect it,” Harry replied calmly. “So… after the second task, go on a date with me.”

  He said it while looking directly into her eyes, a gentle smile on his face. And that unmistakable tilt of his head to the side, so clearly inherited from his mother, Wanda.

  Fleur froze completely in place.

  …

  Next chapter: the second task begins.