A Cadmean Victory by DarknessEnthroned

72. The Unyielding Shield

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

Number 72 and the beginning of the next year, though there will be chapters all through the summer this time. I'm reliably informed that should you google the phrase I've adopted as a title for this story my fanfiction now appears above the Wikipedia page, which is quite cool and a little flattering even if "A Cadmean Victory" isn't the most frequently searched phrase on Wikipedia.

Chapter 72

It was cold. It was wet. Her feet and legs were drenched from walking through the grass of the meadows before the dew had dried, and Fleur was rather coming to regret accompanying Harry on his exploration of the meadows past the elm trees.

He seemed unaffected by the discomfort, despite his obviously soaked clothing, leading her along the bank of the small stream by the hand with a cheerful smile.

'That is as far as it goes?' He asked, raising their linked hands to point at the edge of the woods.

'Yes,' Fleur nodded, his smile drew her mind away from thoughts of freezing feet and damp hair.

'It's quite a lot of meadow,' he grinned, looking back to the distant elm trees and their house. The building was at least a thousand metres away, the pale, white-washed stone just visible though the leaves.

'More wet grass than I would ever care to walk through,' Fleur replied archly. Harry squeezed her fingers gently. 'At least we can apparate back,' she smiled, looking down at her grass-stained robes.

'I was going to suggest creating wards,' Harry mentioned lightly.

'Across the whole area?' Fleur considered the idea. She could probably manage it, provided he only meant basic wards to prevent the more obvious methods of access or detection.

'Of course,' Harry said, 'it is all ours.'

'I can do it,' Fleur decided, resigning herself to being very tired for the rest of the day. 'If you watch you might learn something new.'

'I thought you did not like being watched?' Harry teased, eying her playfully.

'I make an exception for you,' Fleur smirked, angling herself suggestively and watching the desire smoulder briefly in Harry's eyes before he closed them and kissed her. His lips met hers just hard enough to steal her breath away.

'What will you show me?' He asked, pulling away.

'Warding,' Fleur answered. 'In its most common form.'

'Oh?' He looked curious. She knew that he had little knowledge of wards beyond the fraction she had shown him, and the little he had learned from his ancestor's painting to produce blood magic bound protections. Fleur suspected that the blood magic he had used was very different to the warding she had understood.

'We don't want any unexpected visitors,' she mused, 'so anti-apparition wards and anti-portkey wards, are a must, and then we'll need actual protections as well.'

'Anything I can help with?' Harry inquired.

'Not unless you've managed to learn a great deal about enchanting and warding in the last few months?'

'I can't say that I have,' Harry conceded, his eyes sparkling with amusement. 'I suppose I shall just have to watch you.'

'Are you complaining?' Fleur countered wryly.

'Not even a little bit,' Harry grinned, stepping back to openly look her up and down. A slight heat rose to her cheeks at his obvious appraisal, embarrassed, despite knowing what wizards thought of her, that he thought she was attractive. She'd known already, of course, he'd let it slip for the first time in the Room of Requirement, but it was pleasing to hear it.