Reviews:

Chaos Snow Kitsune : I had decided to spend a month just focusing on this story, just to see how it goes.

ulttoanova : I am also evil btw.

haubs66 : Thanks

LydiaCrazzy : I'll think about it.

Chapter 58 -

"Thanks, Harry!" Tonks grinned. "Glad you like it, this is actually some random clothes I picked out of my closet, I transfigured it like this about ten minutes ago." She revealed.

"I..." Harry paused, stopping the compliment that was about to come out of his mouth. He was no expert on dates or women, but even he knew that one should not pay attention to other girls on dates. Still, he hadn't meant to blurt out a compliment for Tonks suddenly, he was simply stunned by her choice of dress. Fleur, he barely knew and wasn't that surprised to see her in a dress, no matter how good she looked in it, but Tonks...he had only ever seen her in auror robes and muggle clothes. "Tonks, you'll remember my date, the lovely Fleur Delacour."

"Yep, hi Fleur!" Tonks waved at her cheerily.

"Hello," Fleur blinked, looking somewhat stunned by Tonk's behaviour. "It is good to see you again," She said, looping one arm through Harry's. "I wasn't aware you were going to be at the ball."

"All of us aurors are," Tonks explained, not just to her but to the other champions and their dates who were listening in. "I'm just here to watch you guys while they're setting up. When you go into the hall, you are all free to mess about, have fun, and do whatever you want. But just to let you know, there will be an auror posted in each corner of the hall and a few more will be walking around. So, if at any point any of you think you have any serious problems, then just make some noise and one of us will come around, though that's only if we don't spot the trouble ourselves first."

"Do you expect there to be trouble?" Hermione frowned.

"Well, not really, it'd be stupid to try anything tonight," Tonks admitted. "But orders are orders, plus it's not completely out of the realm of possibility. In previous tournaments, people have tried to attack the champions in between events."

"There's a dragon slayer here," Cedric said with a smile, gesturing to Harry. "I think we'll be fine,"

"I'm supposed to protect you now, Diggory?" Harry asked in an amused voice.

"Well, I can't protect myself, I'll be too busy protecting Cho," Cedric grinned, only to grunt when the girl in question elbowed him in the gut.

"Like I need your protection," Cho smirked.

"I don't suppose your protection extends to saving me from my date?" Cedric asked Tonks and Harry.

"Nah/Nope." The two said at the same time.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, you'll all be perfectly safe," Tonks continued with a grin. "As I said, constant auror presence around, plenty of teachers and we've even got an auror constantly casting detection charms on all of the food and drinks. Any questions?" She asked, taking a quick look around, when it appeared they did not have any more questions, she nodded to them all before casting the tempus spell, a spell designed to show the time. "Alright then, you've all got a minute or so before I send you in." She told them.

"May I speak with you?" Fleur asked Harry, she didn't wait for an answer before dragging him to a corner away from everyone else, the other champions took that as their cue to start chatting with their dates. "You like this Tonks woman?" She said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I...that obvious, huh?" Harry asked sheepishly.

"A bit, yes," She nodded, staring at him questioningly.

"I...suppose, I do," Harry answered honestly, taking a look around to make sure that nobody was listening. "I have for a while, but she said she's too old for me and she's worried that my reputation will take a hit if I date an older woman."

"Huh?" Fleur asked, sounding really interested. "So...she rejected you?"

"Pretty much," Harry confirmed. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be looking at another woman during our date. That wasn't nice of me,"

"It was not," Fleur agreed, an odd tone in her voice. She stared at the boy in front of her, unable to believe that she'd ever meet anyone like him. Never would she have ever imagined that a boy would even consider looking at other girls when she was with him. Even without her veela heritage, Fleur was an extremely attractive woman that men would fight for simply to have the pleasure of her company. Yet her date had paid close interest to this 'Tonks' woman. For the first time in her life, Fleur Delacour felt an emotion that she had never ever felt, not when it was relating to a boy at least, and that particular emotion was jealousy.

She imagined that this was likely how all the other girls felt when their mindless boyfriends would look away from them to gaze at her, it was quite eye-opening. Still, it didn't mean that she was going to be any nicer to those girls, if they couldn't get their boyfriends and their own emotions under control then she was not going to bend over backwards to make them feel better, it was hardly like she could do anything about it. Taking a quick glance at the pink-haired auror, she realised that the same might be applied to Tonks, the woman had rejected Harry, so it wasn't like she had been actively trying to take the one boy that Fleur was remotely interested in. For a second, Fleur was tempted to be angry, to rage and do all the other things that those stupid little girls had done.

But she stopped herself.

She was not one of those silly and stupid girls, she was Fleur Delacour! If Harry's eyes wondered then she would just show prove to him why she was worth keeping his eyes on. She would make it so that Harry Potter never ever considered thinking about another woman while she was here.

"I am sorry," Harry said sincerely.

"I know, and you will make it up to me," She said, raising one finger and placing it under his chin, making sure he was looking right into her eyes. "You will show me a good time today, Mr Potter. I am expecting a good night to remember, you will provide that for me, understood?" She said, leaning forward, leaning close enough that her nose had barely touched his.

"Um...yeah," Harry said slowly. "I suppose that's fair, I'd be happy to do so."

"Good," She smiled brightly before moving to his side. "Give me a good night to remember, Harry Potter, perhaps I'll do the same for you." She said, whispering into his ear. Harry didn't have a mirror on himself but he was sure that he was blushing.

'I feel like you're forgiven,' Venom said dryly.

"Alright everyone," Tonks called. "Line up and get ready to go in," She said, pulling out her wand. Cedric and Cho were at the front, followed by Hermione and Victor and then Fleur and Harry. "Alright, go inside in three...two...one. Have fun!" She flicked her wand and the doors to the Great Hall opened up and the champions started following her in.

Harry looked around as soon as he entered, the hall looked vastly different from how it usually looked. Instead of four big tables, there were many small tables for people to sit at along with various other tables filled with food and drinks. The tables were covered in white and blue covers and banners of the same colour along with other directions that were spread around the hall. A large space in the middle of the hall had been left empty, presumably for the dancing. As they walked in, various people could be heard whispering.

"How the hell did Granger get a date with Krum?"

"Told you that Cho was going with Cedric!"

"Wow! Delacour's ten times hotter than my date!"

"Oi!"

"Don't worry about it, Sarah. Potter's hotter than mine."

"Oi!"

Tonks led them all to the biggest table in the hall where all of the judges were waiting. Once they had all taken their seats, Tonks gave them a nod and walked off, discreetly giving Harry a wink whilst gesturing to Fleur. Harry didn't get much time to react before he found his attention averted to the people he was sitting with. The judges were evenly spread around the table, leaving room for the champions to sit between them. Harry had taken the seat closest to Percy, the older boy was hardly the most interesting person in the world to talk to, but right now he was the best option Harry had. He found Bagman to be irritating, he still remembered Fleur's headmistress calling him a liar, and if he sat by either Karkaroff or Dumbledore then Harry suspected he would have to spend the night preventing Venom from ripping off their heads.

Not that the idea of Venom doing so didn't amuse Harry.

"Mr Potter," Percy greeted him formally before turning to Fleur. A greeting was about to be offered when a glassy look appeared in Percy's eyes as he began staring at Fleur like it was the first time in his entire life that he had ever seen a member of the female species. Still, he was handling her better than Ron did. Glancing at Fleur, Harry saw that the blonde looked resigned more than anything else.

"Percy, it's good to see you," Harry cut in, bringing the redhead's attention back to him. "How's things been?"

"Fairly good," Percy said, puffing his chest out slightly, a proud smile on his face. "My superiors have been happy with the way that I've been handling things here. They chose me because I was old Barty Crouch's assistant, you know, and I had assured them that I had learnt enough from him to do the job well."

"Well, congratulations," Harry told him before turning to Fleur before the redhead could speak again. Harry - after his earlier blunder - was determined to make the night as best as he could for Fleur and that did not mean listening to Percy prattling on about the ministry - sorry Percy. "So, have you been to many balls before?"

"Two or three," She smiled warmly. "I usually went with my Papa, he is part of the French Ministry of Magic,"

"Sounds interesting," Harry replied, about to say more when Percy spoke up.

"Is he really?" Percy said, eyes once more glossed over, but Harry honestly couldn't tell if that was because he thought that Fleur was really beautiful or simply because he was interested in learning about foreign ministries. Maybe a bit of both. "That's really quite fascinating, what does he do if I might ask? Does he work with -"

"Pork chops!" Dumbledore said suddenly, staring at his menu. Pork chops appeared on his plate, earning a pleased smile from the man. The rest took that as their cue and began ordering their own food before they started eating. Harry ate whilst making minor small talk with Fleur, though he did make sure to at least swallow his food in between talking and eating. After listening to Hermione and Ron argue for years, all of the other Gryffindor boys had impeccable table manners.

Halfway through dinner, Harry couldn't help but feel a leg press against his, the leg in question began rubbing against his. For a brief moment, Harry considered how he would react if Percy or Karkaroff had been the ones to do this or worse still, if Dumbledore had started doing it. Harry would happily let Venom loose right here and now. Thankfully, it was Fleur instead. He looked at her and found her sitting innocently, eating her food.

"Are you okay?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Peachy," He replied with a small smirk before he continued eating, not willing to let her get a rise out of him. While they continued talking and eating, Harry took the chance to glance around and see how everyone else was doing. Cedric and Cho seemed to be enjoying each other's company very much, Hermione was apparently trying to teach Victor Krum how to pronounce her name properly and Percy was involved in a conversation with Ludo Bagman. Madam Maxime was sitting quietly and eating her food, as was Karkaroff, though the man was glaring and sneering at everyone in between, the complete opposite of Dumbledore who was smiling like he was having a particularly enjoyable night and had a new plate full of pork chops.

After a while, dinner came to an end and the champions had to start the dance. Harry stood up and offered his hand to Fleur who daintily accepted it before the two headed over to the dance floor, Harry placed his free hand at her waist while she placed hers on his shoulder. It wasn't long before the music started and the couples began dancing.

"You are doing quite well," Fleur whispered to him.

"I had a great teacher," He whispered back, earning a pleased smirk from the French woman. The couples danced for several minutes before the rest of the hall was allowed to join, soon there was a large flood of couples dancing on the floor with various degrees of success, a Gryffindor boy nearly landed on Professor McGonagall, the poor soul.

Harry wasn't quite sure exactly how long he and Fleur had been dancing, the dancing was admittedly more enjoyable than he thought it would be. Fleur's light touch kept him far more awake than he had been the whole night, the woman's eyes seemed to drill into his own, almost daring him to look away. He honestly didn't want to. Harry knew that Fleur Delacour was objectively a very, very good-looking person. He had to admit that she was even more so up close. Though for Harry, he was just glad that she at least had a personality that was agreeable with her looks. He hadn't known her long, but so far he could admit that she was pretty fun to be around.

"I think this is the longest I've ever danced with a boy," She had to admit.

"You dance much?" Harry asked her curiously.

"Not really, I practise with my family for balls and such, but I never dance with the boys at balls, just my father." She answered. "And yourself?"

"I don't dance," Harry stated bluntly.

"No? But you're doing so well at it," She said teasingly. "Do you perhaps practise in your free time? Is the great Harry Potter secretly a dancer?"

"That would make a hell of a Daily Prophet article," Harry said amusedly. "I can picture the headline, 'The boy who dances', got a nice catch to it, don't you think?"

"Oui, much better than that other title of yours," She agreed. "The 'boy who lives', everyone lives."

"Exactly," Harry laughed. "I can't imagine who came up with that name, Harry Potter's special because he's alive. So are cats and ducks, I'm not special."

"I would argue against that," Fleur replied. "You are most definitely special, Harry, even if you don't like to admit it."

"I've never wanted to be different," Harry said with a small sigh as he looked around. "Were you ever like that?" He asked, gesturing around with his head. "Did you ever look at them and wonder just what you had to do to be accepted? What you had to change? If it was worth changing?"

"For a time, I did," She admitted quietly. "But I soon learnt better, what's the point in trying to be like them if you have to change who you are? Do you want to change who you are?"

"I used to," He replied. "But then a wise woman once told me, it's a shame to be anything less,"

"That does indeed sound like a wise woman," Fleur said, eyes twinkling. "Attractive too, of course," She added with a grin.

"Extremely," Harry agreed with a smirk. "Also quite humble,"

"Like me," Fleur replied. "I too am extraordinarily humble," She stated matter-of-factly.

"According to half of my school, I'm a braggart," Harry shrugged in a 'what can you do?' sort of way.

"You should work on that," Fleur suggested jokingly. "I'll be happy to help,"

"Appreciated," Harry responded. "So, you want to go and get a drink?" He asked, gesturing with his head to the drinks table.

"Oh, are you thirsty? Have I worn down the great Harry Potter?" Fleur asked teasingly.

"I could go another twelve hours, easy," He told her. "I'm just worried about my poor date, figured she might be thirsty."

"I could go another thirteen hours," She told him firmly. "But if you are so worried, I don't see the harm in a drink or two." She told him before the two stopped dancing, though Fleur did not let go of his hand.

"So," Harry said, walking hand in hand with Fleur as they left the hall after what was probably a good couple of hours of dancing. The two had decided to take a walk, away from the constant staring of everyone else. Though they were both resigned to the fact that everyone else probably thought that they were going to spend the night together. "I do hope you enjoyed yourself?" He said questioningly.

"I did," Fleur confirmed. "And what of you, Harry Potter? Did you enjoy your date with me?"

"Got to be honest, I did," Harry nodded. "I'm glad I went with you, it was pretty fun."

"I am indeed very fun," Fleur smiled. "If you truly liked it then I would guess that you wouldn't be opposed to some more dates?"

"You want more dates with me?" Harry asked, not entirely able to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Why not?" Fleur asked. "You are handsome and powerful, you don't stare at me like I'm a piece of meat and you're perhaps the only straight boy in this school who isn't trying to jump into my bed. I'd be happy to spend more time with you unless you don't want to?" She said with a frown.

"You know what, I'd be happy to spend more time with you," Harry told her with a smile.

'What about Tonks?' Venom asked.

'I'm not with Tonks now, am I?' Harry answered back before turning to Fleur. "So, I was wondering if...wait," Harry said, stopping instantly, Fleur stopped along with him.

"What is it?" Fleur barely asked before Harry pulled her close to a wall. "What are you..." The witch's words were cut off by Harry covering her mouth.

"Shush," He whispered, a finger placed over his own lips in the universal sign for quiet. He then used that finger to gesture past her as he slowly removed his hand. Fleur gave him a confused look before seeing where he was pointing. In the courtyard, there were several carriages, walking around and between those carriages was Professor Snape, dressed in black as usual, but what was unusual was the fact that Karkaroff was walking along with him.

"Severus, you must have seen the signs, the same as I have!" Karkaroff hissed before Snape shushed him and quickly rushed over to a carriage, he opened the door and yanked out a couple that - judging by the state of their clothes - had been enjoying themselves too much for the potion master's taste.

"Smithers, Burns, that will be twenty points each and a detention," Snape sneered at them. "Now get out of my sight!" He told the two.

"So, there's a ball yet he decides to spend his night keeping an eye out for students in carriages?" Fleur whispered to Harry.

"Yeah, apparently if he can't get laid then nobody else is allowed to get laid," Harry whispered back, earning an amused look from Fleur before she glanced over her shoulder and stared at Snape critically.

"Oh yeah, that man's definitely a virgin," She said confidently. Harry had to place a hand over his mouth so he didn't laugh.

"Do not ignore me, Severus!" Karkaroff snapped. "This is important!"

"I do not know what signs you have seen, Karkaroff, nor do I care to know," Snape said, continually looking at all the carriages to make sure that there were no more hiding students. "As you can see, I'm busy,"

"Yes, trying to prevent pregnancies in a school full of hormonal teenagers, good luck with delaying the inevitable," Karkaroff glared at him. "But what I am discussing is far more important! The dark mark has changed!"

"If you're sure," Snape drawled.

"If I'm...if I'm sure?!" Karkaroff demanded furiously. "Fine! Let's see your mark then!" He reached for Snape who quickly pulled his arm back like he had been burnt. "Exactly what I thought, Severus, your mark has changed! It has gone darker! The same as mine! It's a sign! You know it, Severus!"

"What do you want, Karkaroff?" Snape glared at the man.

"What do I want?!" Karkaroff repeated. "Damn it to hell, Severus! I want to know what you think! You were always one of the smartest of us!"

"I think that I have better things to do with my time than listen to you prattle on," Snape said with his signature drawl. "You know what the mark signifies as well as I do, if it has gone darker then that is just more proof that he is coming back. If I were you, I'd waste less time with me and more time thinking up an escape plan. He holds grudges, remember?"

"The...the dark lord..." Karkaroff began but was interrupted.

"Do not mention his title!" Snape hissed furiously. "Not here! Especially not here!"

'The dark lord?' Venom repeated. 'That's Voldemort's title!'

'The mark, they're talking about Voldemort's mark for his followers,' Harry thought. 'Remember, Sirius once called Snape a 'death eater parasite'. Snape worked for Voldemort, another reason for me to wonder why the hell Dumbledore is continuing to pay that man to be around school kids.'

'Dumbledore must have leverage over him,' Venom guessed. 'Fuck that guy!' He added. Harry wasn't sure if Venom was referring to Snape or Dumbledore, but agreed either way.

"Dumbledore has eyes and ears everywhere around this castle," Snape told Karkaroff. "Speak no more of this!" He snapped before turning and storming away. Unfortunately, he was heading in the direction of Harry and Fleur.

"We should probably hide," Harry said, stepping back only for Fleur to grab him.

"No time for that, act natural," She told him before pulling him closer, smashing her lips into his. Harry's eyes widened before his mind went blank and he ended up going with the flow, his hands flew to Fleur's waist as they pulled closer to each other. Fleur's hands snaked around his neck, one rested on the back of his neck while the other ran its fingers through his hair. Neither of them noticed a black tentacle shooting out of Harry's left leg, holding a wand, the tentacle waved the wand and the two of them quickly became invisible just a second before Snape got close enough to see. The sour man, seeing nothing, continued walking, looking as pleasant as he ever had.

Not that Fleur or Harry noticed, the two of them were too focused on each other. With a second wave of the wand and the two became visible, the tentacle disappeared. It might have been ten minutes or maybe even an hour, but eventually, the two broke away, staring at each other with flushed faces that both had matching stunned looks.

"I...wait...where's the professor?" Fleur blurted out, looking around.

"Don't know," Harry said slowly. "You...you just took my first kiss," He couldn't help but point out, causing the older girl to blush.

"And I gave you mine," She said, staring him right in the eye.

"That was your first?!"

"Yes,"

"Bullshit! There's no way that that was your first!"

"And why's that?!" She said, offended. Did the boy really think that she had gone around kissing every boy that came near her?

"Because it was fucking amazing, that's why!" Harry told her honestly.

"Amazing?" She blinked.

"Spectacular,"

"..."

"..."

"Kiss me again!" She ordered. Harry obeyed.