Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black Chapter 62 62

I was sitting in the drawing room when the fireplace flared green and Fleur and Gabrielle ca tumbling out of it. Both girls were badly shaken, and I went to them at once.

"What's happened?"

"Our manor was attacked."

Fleur's voice was full of barely contained panic.

"Do you need help?"

"No."

She got that word out with difficulty. It was obvious she wanted to say yes, but...

"...Papa will manage, and he has already called a couple of colleagues who will arrive any mont. He simply decided to take precautions and sent us to you. He said the protection on your manor is better than ours in any case, especially since you and your mothers raised all the wards."

I gave a single nod.

"Do you know who attacked?"

"No."

She shook her head, and made no move to step back from the embrace I had drawn her and Gabrielle into. Gabrielle, for her part, was sandwiched between us and clearly sowhat less comfortable, judging by the determined effort she was making to wriggle free.

"Then... my ho is your ho."

I released Fleur and stepped back, looking first at her, then at Gabrielle.

"That is to say, I should have put it more formally: I welco you to my ho and offer you our hospitality. My ho is your ho. I ask only that you take care around certain doors; so of them carry protective spells. If a door doesn't open on the first try and gives you a small shock, that ans you are not permitted to enter."

"Kreacher."

The house-elf appeared beside with a crack.

"Prepare a room for the girls."

I glanced at Fleur.

"One room or two?"

She looked at her sister with a flicker of uncertainty; then sothing resolved in her expression.

"One."

"Hey!"

Gabrielle protested, but neither Fleur nor I was inclined to accommodate her on this point.

"Prepare a shared room for them. They'll be staying with us for a while."

"At once. Would you care for sothing to eat?"

I looked at the girls. Gabrielle nodded with great enthusiasm.

"Yes. Sothing light, please. Nothing that will spoil their appetite for the main al."

"Of course."

The old house-elf disappeared with a crack.

"You only have one house-elf?"

"Gabrielle!"

"No."

I shook my head, smiling.

"Kreacher is quite old, and even with the magical support we give him and the rituals we perform, he will serve our family for perhaps another hundred years, or a hundred and fifty at most. So I have acquired other house-elves for him to manage, tasking him with identifying the most capable among them to eventually succeed him."

"She didn't need to know all that..."

Fleur gave her sister a look of mild exasperation.

"...it really was rather..."

"Oh, leave it. If soone else had asked, I would simply have ignored them, but little Gabby clearly ant nothing by it. No harm done."

"Yes, yes... if anyone else were in your place, we would now be sitting through a lecture about what is and is not proper to ask in polite company. And if it happened to be one of the radicals, we would have had our heritage thrown in our faces as well."

"There are idiots everywhere."

I shrugged.

"So there's no point giving them attention. Especially since by the ti you are twenty or thirty and have earned your Mastery, you will be welcod in houses across the world, not because your father is Head of the Auror Office and your mother leads a Veela community, but because you yourself are soone who has to be reckoned with. While they will still be nothing more than appendages to their surnas."

I shook my head.

"That was well put."

Fleur smiled thoughtfully.

"...an appendage to a surna. I do like the way you say things. But you do know that not everyone manages to beco a Master?"

"Fleur."

I gestured for her and Gabrielle to follow to the small dining room, where I intended to spend a little ti with them.

"...are you so uncertain of yourself that you think you lack the ability, the knowledge, or whatever else it takes to beco a Master?"

"Well... no... I know I can do it, but..."

"Then if you know it, don't diminish yourself. Say plainly what you want to achieve. Even wizards of no great brilliance beca Masters, provided they possessed the stubbornness of a mule. And you are rather more than that."

I had, in fact, looked into this. There had indeed been a few candidates who had failed the Master examination more than ten tis. Only the first sitting was free; each subsequent attempt had to be paid for, and not cheaply. The current record was passing on the seventeenth attempt. The candidate in question had hamred everything required into his head through sheer willpower, paying instructors substantial sums, and had indeed beco a Master. He was no great star, but by my rough calculation, that stubbornness paid off: within three years of working in his field, even he would have recovered the cost of all those examination fees. Within five years, the cost of his instructors, too. Provided he worked like a man possessed, rather than doing things the way certain Masters tend to do: one golden teaspoon of effort per year.

"Are you trying to encourage ?"

"Not at all. The most stubborn Master alive only passed the examination on his seventeenth try."

I half-turned so she could see the expression on my face, and her eyes went very wide.

"...whereas I am quite certain you will pass on the first."

"Thank you."

She caught up with and hugged from behind.

"Oh, will you two stop with the hugging! Where are the sweets?!"

That is what faith in one's parents does, combined with the promise of treats. Unlike Fleur, Gabrielle had all but forgotten that their ho had been attacked. Fleur, on the other hand... needed support right now.

We reached the small dining room and settled at the table, Fleur taking the seat beside . I maintained physical contact with her throughout. I also let my mothers know that we had guests. I was unable to spend the whole day with the Delacours, as I had to stop by Hogwarts for a eting with Flitwick, but I did my best to be present as much as I could. Toward evening, Jean arrived, and both girls launched themselves at him, shrieking.

"I take it everything is all right?"

"More or less."

Jean waved a casual hand.

"In the end there was nothing particularly dangerous there, but I decided to send the girls to you all the sa. I hope this didn't disrupt any plans?"

"Jean."

I looked at him with mild disapproval.

"...don't say foolish things. You should have sent your wife here as well, and if she resisted, you should have pushed her through, quite literally."

"Ha! You'll never push Maman anywhere!"

Fleur couldn't help laughing. Jean was watching with a fond smile.

"You needn't worry about and Apolline. We can take care of ourselves. And honestly, there was no real danger to speak of. I spent most of the ti not fighting off attackers, but rather sitting in an interrogation room. So..."

He shrugged.

"...it's all resolved. And incidentally, we have you to thank for this attack."

I blinked. Fleur, anwhile, suddenly radiated heat. She was very angry.

"In what sense?"

"Simple enough. Do you rember David Koushmin?"

"Hmm... no. Should I?"

"Fleur, calm down!"

The girl's anger had been building rapidly; she looked ready to launch herself at , her features sharpening as she barely held back from shifting into her combat form.

"But Father..."

"Daughter, do you really think so poorly of ? If Draco had ordered an attack on us, would I not have had you out of here instantly? And besides, it would be a rather strange move: commission the attack and then leave the Flo connection open. If this were sohow... normal behavior... not closing it afterward, cutting you off from your mother and , would be equally strange."

"I..."

Fleur looked sowhat thrown.

"Or don't you trust Draco? But then why do you spend so much ti with him?"

"I..."

"Jean, don't press her. I understand her feelings, and yes, it stings a little that she doubted . But..."

I shook my head.

"...family is sacred, and personally, in a situation like that, my first instinct would have been to strike, not lethally, but hard enough to put everyone out of action before asking questions. So Fleur showed remarkable restraint. Now, would you mind finishing the story? Who is this Koushmin?"

"The teacher of your opponent in the championship final."

"Wait, that man?"

"The very one. In short, he only recently managed to put together a group. He's Muggle-born, but quite capable and determined. The problem was that by the ti they made their move, you had raised the wards on your manor, and your ho is exceptionally difficult to locate as it is. So he decided to strike at my family instead, judging us as an easier target."

I drew a slow breath and let it out.

"Can I expect..."

"He has already been sent to prison."

"Oh? Well, that's wonderful news. Which ans before long he can simply be purchased and put to death."

Jean sighed.

"Right, well. I ca to collect my daughters, so..."

He gave a shrug.

"Though I honestly cannot understand what made that man think attacking you would allow him to take revenge on ."

I shook my head.

"...actually, I can understand it perfectly well. I simply don't see what made him think I would agree to his terms if he took you all hostage. No, I would have had to seem to agree, to buy ti... and after that I would have put a price on his head so large that they would have dragged him back from the afterlife just to spend an extra hour torturing him."

"And you're simply going to ignore what my father just said about us?"

Fleur gave a slight smile.

"Fleur, I believe we have already discussed this... it's still too early to talk about a relationship. There is definitely sothing there, but as for the rest..."

"Yes, yes."

She nodded.

"I rember."

"Fleur, are you coming ho?"

"Hmm... could I go directly to Beauxbatons from here?"

Fleur asked uncertainly, looking at rather than her father. She seed unsure.

"I have no objection."

I shrugged.

"Jean?"

"Well, we had planned to spend the last days before school together as a family. I even took ti off..."

Fleur was visibly beginning to waver.

"Go."

I nodded to her.

"Family is sacred. Don't even think about it. Just go and spend ti with them."

"I... Draco..."

"And we can always speak through the mirror in the evenings if you like, so just go."

"Yes."

She nodded and moved toward her father, then stopped two steps short, turned back, and kissed on the cheek. Her lips caught the corner of my mouth.

"...Forgive . And thank you."

And then she was gone, and I stood there grinning foolishly as the family disappeared, one by one, in bursts of green fla.

The day had ended rather well, all things considered. But that particular individual would need to be bought out of prison... bought out and brought to the altar. I would need to find sothing especially unpleasant in the Black family vaults. There was certainly sothing there suited to those who wished to declare a blood feud.

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1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 268

2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 186

3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 269

4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 114

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