Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black Chapter 53 53

The beach.

We were standing on the beach, and I was quietly coming apart at the seams. There I was on the sand, surrounded by my friends and my mothers, with young won all around us, several of whom had apparently decided swimsuit tops were optional, and every one of them kept casting aningful glances my way.

"Remind , please..."

I closed my eyes for a mont.

"...why exactly did you choose this particular beach?"

"Because here we won't have to deal with overly persistent n."

Fleur shrugged.

"I see."

"And what exactly do you see?"

Penny Clearwater stood beside Fleur, and I could clearly see they'd chosen very different swimwear styles. Not that I needed them standing together to notice. I could say with absolute certainty that both girls looked absolutely stunning, and I was in no state to choose between them right now.

"That this is going to be hell for ."

"You think we are demons?"

"Only the most enchanting of succubi."

I smiled, and both girls exchanged a satisfied look before heading down to the water. I started setting up our picnic spot.

"I will help, my lord."

"Thank you, Daph."

I smiled as she joined . While I handled the bulky items, setting up the awning, umbrellas, and lounge chairs, magic made the work considerably easier. She busied herself laying out a light spread.

"Excuse , might I join you?"

A charm hit like a physical blow. Though, thanks to Fleur and her mother's training, I was fairly confident I could resist that sort of compulsion. I looked up at the young woman who'd approached us and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, but we're a private party, and I'd rather not open it to strangers."

"Oh, co now..."

A sly smile touched the girl's lips, her eyes bright and intent, and the pressure on increased slightly.

"...my friends and I would not be any trouble. Quite the opposite, actually. We could be very helpful."

"I'm sorry, but no."

Genuine surprise flickered across her face, and then sothing else, a kind of challenge.

"And if I offered to fulfill one of your deepest desires?"

She ran her tongue across her lips in a way that was clearly ant to be inviting. It had the exact opposite effect on , like having a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. The revulsion was imdiate. I understood perfectly well that I did not look nearly twelve years old, more like fifteen or sixteen, if anything, but even so, it was obvious I was a young boy, and the woman attempting to worm her way into my good graces was plainly sowhere around thirty.

"I am actually only twelve."

"I beg your pardon?"

She stared at , clearly thrown off. I wasn't entirely sure whether it was my age or the flat, cold tone in which I'd delivered the information that had startled her more.

"I said I'm only twelve, and everything required to fulfill all of my desires is not yet in working order. Nor would I be particularly interested in fulfilling them with you in any case. Now, would you mind leaving us?"

"You..."

"Agassis, not again."

Fleur appeared at my side without a sound.

"The mont anyone in the community brings a man along, you try to draw his attention to yourself. Does it never get old? Have you not worn yourself raw by now?"

"Delacour... you think you have so kind of advantage here? In our coven there is a proper order of rotation for n, and you..."

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow. Since when, exactly, am I supposed to care about your rotation? I may be young, but I am a man, and I will decide for myself who I wish to spend my ti with."

"Boy, stay out of this. You are doing well enough, and..."

"Right. So the hen has decided she is wiser and stronger than everyone else, has she? Very well."

I smiled slightly.

"...you are welco to bring the full weight of your Charm down on . But when you find you cannot make submit, I will make you eat sand. Are we clear?"

"Draco..."

Fleur's voice carried a note of uncertainty.

"Stay out of it, Delacour. The boy chose this himself. And I have absolutely no intention of denying him his rather overconfident wish to beco my little lapdog."

"We will see who ends up as whose lapdog."

The pressure crashed down.

For just a mont, barely a second, I wanted nothing more than to dissolve on the spot and tell the girl before that she was the most magnificent creature in existence. Then the image of Fleur and Penny standing side by side on this beach rose before , and the compulsion dissolved entirely.

"Boy, wouldn't you like to kneel?"

I drew my wand with perfect composure.

"What are you doing, boy?"

"Confundus."

I poured enough magic into the spell to turn the girl's eyes glassy.

"From this day forward, you're simply a dog. A bitch who does nothing but eat, piss, defecate, and bark. Off you go."

The girl promptly dropped to all fours and trotted away down the beach, barking cheerfully.

"Draco, wasn't that a bit much?"

Nymphadora, who had appeared beside us, asked with slight uncertainty.

"No. Too much would have been making her eat sand. This..."

I shrugged.

"...she'll bark for a day or so, and perhaps afterwards her brain will start working again. Incidentally, what was that about a rotation?"

"Ahem... don't trouble yourself. My mother spoke to the elders. They know you're simply a guest, one who has helped enormously."

"Just a guest?"

I looked at Fleur carefully, and she turned slightly pink.

"That's... between you and . And Penny, perhaps."

"Pfft."

"Yes, yes. Though it's precisely because of that absurd little habit of yours that I'm willing to consider you at all. Consider..."

"Simply consider..."

"Yes, yes. And I only think about you because you're a little bird."

The two girls exchanged a look that could have drawn blood.

"Right, that's enough. Let's actually eat sothing."

That distracted everyone from the budding argunt, and after the picnic we all went for a swim.

So ti later.

"So, how did you find it?"

Jean looked at with mild curiosity over supper, and I simply shrugged. We were at their manor house now, and after a full day in the sun, despite the various tanning and sun protection potions I'd applied to the girls' backs, returning to the house felt like a gift from rlin himself.

"Well, I confess I wasn't expecting an invitation to a private beach for Veela. But at least one could cast freely there."

"I knew that would be the part you appreciated. And the beach itself?"

"The beach was lovely, but... certain visitors..."

I shook my head.

"...were rather excessively clingy."

"Were there problems?"

"Well..."

I shrugged.

"...I rather think not, at the mont. Though there may be in the near future. I did, after all, compel one particularly persistent individual to behave like a dog."

"I'm sorry?"

"Confundus."

"Ahem..."

Jean tilted his head slightly, and I could see the amusent in his eyes.

"...and? Did it actually work?"

"It actually worked, Papa. That awful Agassis woman got down on all fours and went tearing across the beach, barking, even at her own friends, who'd been looking forward to her bringing them a new victim."

"Hmm... sothing just occurred to ."

"Yes?"

"What exactly was this 'rotation' she was talking about when she was the one trying to use her Charm on to keep for yourself?"

"It's not a simple system, but briefly: after she was done with you, she would have passed you on to the coven and earned points for it."

"Earned points, you say."

Bellatrix frowned.

"And it never occurred to her that we would not forgive that, and would hire people to..."

"There is no need."

Apolline interjected.

"...none of that would have happened. We wouldn't have allowed it. Fleur and Gabrielle were both there, and even if that... differently gifted young woman had managed to charm Draco, Fleur would have sent word imdiately. We could have reached that beach within minutes, and what followed would have been punishnt enough... perhaps slightly less colorful than what Draco arranged, but punishnt nonetheless."

I shrugged.

"She brought it on herself. I asked her to leave several tis."

"No objections whatsoever. We simply need to contact the elders this evening after supper and make it clear to the more... enthusiastic mbers that attempting to use compulsion on a guest under Delacour protection..."

Apolline shook her head. Her displeasure was evident.

"...is not acceptable."

"My dear, do try to keep your temper in front of our guests."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind seeing it."

I couldn't help but smirk, and Jean looked at with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Well, they do say that if you want to know what a girl will be like when she's older, look at her mother."

"Oh... you're already looking that far ahead?"

Apolline cald down imdiately.

"More like I'm keeping my eyes open. I'm not even twelve yet, and making any serious moves on that front would be rather premature."

"Even a declaration of intent?"

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Penny go rigid.

"Well..."

"I rather fear that at this rate, I'll have acquired a collection of such declarations by the end of the third year."

"Hmm?"

Apolline raised an expressive eyebrow.

"I'm not a philanderer, but I already care about two girls, your daughter and Penny here. I don't want to hurt either of them, which ans if I were to make that kind of declaration to Fleur, I'd have to make the sa one to Penny. And from there...

I tapped my fingers thoughtfully on the table.

"...I'll almost certainly et more girls who catch my attention, and by the ti I'm finally forced to choose, that choice will inevitably offend soone."

"Hmm. And what does the young lady herself have to say about it?"

"I... I don't know. It's all so... on the one hand, it would be to my advantage, and on the other hand...

She shook her head.

"...it's all..."

"I understand. You haven't sorted out your own feelings yet. You know you like Draco, but you haven't decided in what way. You want to say 'as a future husband,' but you're not certain."

Penny went crimson, so deeply that I half expected steam to co from her ears.

"Maman, stop embarrassing her. And Penny, don't mind Maman. She simply can't resist playing matchmaker occasionally."

"Hmm... well, perhaps I really ought to...

Apolline surveyed Penny with a thoughtful eye.

"...find you a nice boy? Soone who will adore you and treat you like sothing precious."

"Oh... thank you, that's very kind, but no... I think I'd rather manage on my own..."

"As you like."

Apolline shrugged and changed the subject entirely, and I glanced mournfully across at Jean, who looked back at with perfect understanding. We had another week of living among this female company.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

It was going to be a difficult week. Then again, if I thought about applying suntan lotion to the girls' backs...

It was going to be an extrely difficult week. Perhaps I ought to consider holy orders.

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1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 257

2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 178

3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 258

4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 106

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