A Cadmean Victory by DarknessEnthroned

Chapter 25: The Morning After

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine; everything is J K Rowling's.

Someone mentioned in the reviews my Harry was quite OC, it was a guest, I think, so I can only respond in a note here. You guys do read the summary, right? The little bit that mentions how his personality is very different and why might have offered some warning.

So it continues.

Chapter 25

Light had spilt in through her window, bright and offensive. Fleur gradually became aware of a pounding in her head, the taste on her tongue, dryness in her mouth and the slightly unsettled, fragile feeling of her stomach.

Too much wine.

Her weakness for sweet things like dessert wines had led her here before, but normally only when she was at home and among those she trusted and was open enough with to risk drinking so much.

The lingering effects of the night of the Yule Ball disappeared after a long drink of water and a a strongly cast charm directed at refreshing and cleaning her mouth. It was one of the most useful spells she knew. It took five minutes and Fleur felt much better afterwards, as if it were any other morning.

Just like that all the problems of my morning are gone.

A nagging feeling that that was not even slightly true could not easily be dismissed and after a few seconds it struck her.

I kissed a fourteen year old.

There were so many more problems this morning than any other morning in her life.

That was my first kiss.

It hadn't been so bad. Fleur distinctly remembered enjoying kissing him, as disturbing as that was. She was not so sheltered she didn't know how to kiss someone, but she'd never had practice and Harry likely hadn't either.

Harry.

Fleur had no idea what he must think of her.

Harry, for all his prodigious talent and insight did not know as much about veela as Fleur both feared and wished he did. He did not know how their allure worked and so had remained blissfully oblivious that he remained unaffected by hers even as he spilt out his feelings to her.

You're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

Just remembering it made her shiver.

If he had been affected by her allure he would have wanted to impress her, needed to catch and keep her attention, but instead he had simply told her she was beautiful. There had been nothing Fleur had wanted so much in that moment as to kiss him and he didn't even know what he had said.

She was smiling just thinking about it.

His shyness had demonstrated without any doubt that he had not even noticed the full force of her allure and Fleur could not be more glad that he had not. His notice of her, now that he finally he had, was completely of her, there was no magic compelling him.

Harry still does not realise.

Her happiness came crashing down.

He still believed that he had been under the effects of her aura, which meant he would attribute everything he had felt to her magic. Fleur was caught somewhere in the middle of relief and despair. She didn't want to him to ignore his emotions when expressing them had brought her so much happiness, but he was three years younger than her.