8 Act I: Chapter 8

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"Thanks for your help yesterday."

My response was another kiss, a little more heated than the previous one. When we parted I noticed that I must have grown another inch because I definitely wasn't looking at the top of her head the last time we were together.

She must have noticed it also. "You've grown."

"Puberty." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Thank you for that, I really needed it." I said talking about the kiss.

"You left breakfast in a hurry, I think everyone saw me leave after you too." She said in response.

"Well in that case ...wanna make a quick trip to Hogsmeade?" I asked her.

Her face seemed shocked that I asked. "Did you just ask me out on a date?" She responded. Before I could respond, she continued. "Yes, of course. It's about time you asked."

"Well then." I said extending my arm out to her. "Shall we."

"Oui." She responded linking our arms together and we started walking down the hallway to the stairs.

"You're not worried about what people will say?" I asked her, thinking of the rumors that will swirl because she's going on a date with a fourteen year old.

"People have always talked about me, regardless of if it's true or not. Only this time it will be." She said appeasing my worries.

We continued walking and didn't say anything until we were outside on the path towards Hogsmeade.

"My family heard about us going to the Yule ball." I said out of the blue, my mind taking me to the letters I received earlier.

"What did they say?" She asked curiously.

"They were worried. They don't understand what a beautiful powerful witch would want with a fourteen year old." I replied honestly while also hoping to get a feel of how she felt about the relationship.

"What did you tell them?" She asked not taking the conversation the way I wanted it to go.

"I ignored it all together. I know my worth, I know who I am, even if they don't see it yet." I answered mirroring my thoughts this morning.

"Good." She said. We fell into another comfortable silence just enjoying the walk.

"You are not like any fourteen year old I have ever met." She started out of nowhere. "You have ...presence. Plus I get this feeling that you are older than me, it is very odd." She continued.

In the middle of her explanation I was suddenly reminded of what was happening. I was letting other people's doubts and insecurities bring up the same insecurities I used to have. Before the 'merge' I was a very insecure person, now it was coming back out. Fuck that.

My griffindorish nature did the only thing I could think of, I grabbed her and kissed her, in the middle of the path on the way to Hogsmeade, with a few students around us.

"Sorry I was feeling insecure and did the only thing I could to get me out of that mindset." I told her.

She locked eyes with me and sent me an absolutely smoldering look, one that woke something within me. "I didn't mind." She said breathing heavily.

'She like spontaneous kisses.' noted. I thought to myself.

"Plus in ten years, no one will even care about the age difference." I said out loud as I mentally put a lock on the conversation of our age difference.

"Where would you like to go? The pub where all the students go, the other shadier pub owned by Dumbledore's brother, or the sweets store?" I asked.

"Sweet shop?" She asked intrigued but not making the decision.

"Sweet shop it is!" I answered and she laughed.

The day continued that way, we must have went into every shop in Hogsmeade. Eventually the sun started to set and we decided that food was a priority, considering that neither of us had eaten lunch.

We found our way into the shady building owned by Aberforth, the Hogs Head Inn. 'Fleur appreciates a good adventure.' I thought as I added it to my mental notepad of her likes and dislikes. Currently it consisted of random kisses, physical contact, laughing sweets, herself, and adventure.

The building was just as dirty as described in the books. I never understood why nearly every building was falling apart at the seams in the movies and books. Was it because of the age of the buildings? The building techniques? The materials used? I will figure this out eventually.

In fact when I went to the bar I had to break out some of Molly Weasley's cleaning spells on the glass before he poured us two butterbeers. He didn't even bat an eye at the casual way I cast the spells. In fact he seemed used to the behavior. Wizards are so weird.

"I changed my mind, I'm not eating here." Fleur said as I sat our glasses down, her nose pointed towards the air.

"Hmmm ok then, we'll just finish this drink and go. So are you tired of people asking you what you plan on doing after school yet?" I asked as I set her glass down.

"I am not sure, I have been offered a part-time position at Gringotts bank in Diagon Alley but I am not sure if I'll accept or not. It would be a good way to improve my english, which I'm not sure that I need anymore." She finished thoughtfully. "I would like to pursue a mastery in enchanting eventually. I am pretty gifted with it. I don't worry too much, not to sound arrogant but I am extremely gifted in certain areas of magic." She concluded.

'Yea you put a fucking dragon to sleep with enchanting. Pretty good is right.'

"Have you thought about it yet?" She asked me.

"Yea actually, I'd like to eventually teach defense against the dark arts at Hogwarts. Before that I'll have to get my mastery in it. Maybe transfiguration also? Maybe take a crack at getting electronics to work around magic. Maybe lead a cultural revolution? Who knows?" I said thinking of everything to come while slightly joking.

She stared at me for a second before she busted out laughing. "Ambition is attractive to women you know." She said after a moment.

"Really?" I said and looked around "Do you see any?"

I received a swat on my arm in response. "You don't think I am a woman?" She asked with a sultry look and a raised eyebrow.

My brain short circuited at the direction it thought the conversation was going. Stupid hormones.

I didn't answer, instead I just matched her gaze. "Did you know that there is a secret passageway back to the castle in this very pub?" I asked changing the subject and giving my hormones a break.

She smiled but seemed a little disappointed our game didn't go any farther. "Oh? Tell me more." she said sarcastically.

"Do you remember the room?" I asked recalling the Yule ball.

"How could I forget. I was wooed by a boy three years younger than me in that room." She responded playfully.

'She has a great personality.' I thought as she kept teasing me.

"It should lead us back there." I said in response.

"Should?" She asked.

"Well I haven't tried it yet."

"Are you trying to get me alone Ron Weasley?" She said leaning forward very seductively.

I was tired of being cowed by her games so I decided to be a little bold. I leaned towards her also, grabbed her cheeks with my right hand, pushed them together to make her lips more kissable. She was already leaning in with one hand on the arm that grabbed her pulling her towards me. Then right before we were about to make contact I pulled away and stood up.

"Well would you like to see it?" I asked as I extended my hand.

Her breathing was heavy, her eyes screamed sexual tension and her lips were pouty. Her eyes narrowed and then became resolved.

She took my hand and I led her up the stairs and started looking for the portrait of Ariana Dumbledore. It was easily found considering it was as tall as I was.

"Hello Ariana, could I have passage?" I asked.

Ariana giggled in her painting and held up three fingers.

Fleur got the message and started pacing back and forth. The painting swung outwards and a tunnel appeared.

"Wow that actually worked." I said aloud.

Fleur looked back towards me with a weird look on her face. "You didn't expect it to?"

"Well it was fifty-fifty." I responded.

We entered and walked a surprisingly short distance until we reached the room that Fleur dreamed up.

It was the exact same room that she showed me the last time we were here together, her room at Beauxbatons, surrounded by mountains.

"I have missed this." She said as she plopped down on her bed.

I found my way over to the seat looking out at the Beauxbatons grounds. I always enjoyed a good view.

'And the room knows it.' I thought as a window appeared above my head to show the night sky in all its glory. 'Beauxbatons must not have much light pollution.' My brain supplied taking in the view and tracing the constellations.

"Beautiful." I heard Fleur whisper in my ear.

After I realized that she was allowing me a small amount of control over the room, the chair I was sitting on widened and turned into a loveseat with a coffee table appearing in front of it. I felt her sit next to me before I looked at her.

"Dobby!" I said a little louder than normal.

Soon enough the small elf popped into the room.

"Mr. Weasley's? What can Dobby do for the friend of the great Harry Potter?" He said as he noticed us sitting there.

"We were a little late for dinner today… I was wondering if you would make us something?" I asked politely.

"Of course! Anything for the friend of the great Harry Potter. Oh master Potter's friends are so nice to Dobby." He confirmed with the last part being mumbled to himself but loud enough for us to hear. He popped away after that to retrieve the food.

"Ah so Hogwarts does have house elves." Fleur said just as a plate of sandwiches and two butterbeers popped on the table.

"What else does Mister Weasley need of Dobby?" He asked as he appeared beside me.

'Excited little bugger isn't he?' I couldn't help but think. "Nothing, thanks." I said as I reached into my purse and gave him a little tip.

He grabbed the sickle with wide eyes and trembling hands. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him freak out over it.

"Mister Weasley can call Dobby whenever he wants." Dobby said as he popped away to do whatever house elves do.

Fleur didn't say anything about the interaction but I did notice her look at me strangely before her hunger kicked in. No words were spoken as we devoured the sandwiches.

The food didn't last long and soon we were stretched out on her bed staring at the stars again. We made little comments here and there about the constellations and how beautiful they were but for the most part we just enjoyed each others presence.

"I have to get back." Fleur said later on in the night, our position had changed to me flat on my back and her laying on my chest.

A quick tempus told me what time it was. "Wow, it's 9:45." I said out loud while we shuffled off of the bed and towards the door.

"Do you want me to walk you?" I asked as we stopped before the door.

"I am capable of taking care of myself. Just because you out-dueled Hogwarts champion doesn't mean you can keep up with me." She said haughtily.

"Mmmm-hmmmm." I hummed as the tip of my wand touched her head, she slowly disappeared before my eyes, showcasing my progress with the spell.

I could tell she was moving around trying to look for distortions in the spell but they were minor, signaling a mastery over the spell.

"You learned it that fast? No you mastered it…" She said obviously impressed.

"You so sure I couldn't take you?" I asked.

I don't know how she got so good at kissing me while invisible but that is exactly what she did in response.

"You can not take me just yet." She said in a sultry voice while rubbing her body against mine.

For what felt like the one-hundredth time that day, her teasing short circuited my brain and I didn't know how to respond. 'I was always best as the aggressor, I'm supposed to be the one making her speechless, not the other way around.'

Her laugh echoed in the room as she slipped out and into the seventh floor corridor.

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"Apparition is an important step to ones growth as a wizard. It also happens to be one of the most useful pieces of magic one can learn. It is very dangerous unless practiced properly. That is why I recommend short distances at first, and a partner to put back together any pieces that fall off.

With that being said, there are many ways one can actually apparate. The most common technique is described as disappearing from one location and appearing in another. Hence the names disapparition and apparition. This is also the method that will be taught in this book.

The instructions are simple. Picture where you want to go, picture where you want all of you to appear, and then will it. Some say that imagining your magic spinning will help, along with actually spinning your body. It is true that it is one way to trick your mind into focusing on the magic, but a simpler way is to just ...will it."

'Of course there is no author.' I thought as I put down the worn leather bound book. 'Well no time like the present.'

My mind willed the room to allow me a space that wasn't warded. I wasn't even sure it would work in the room but I would try. Some might say that I was an idiot for trying it first in the room but I didn't really feel like running outside of the wards just to try it, which is what I will do if it doesn't work.

I pictured the spot ten feet from me, grabbed my magic, and willed myself to appear in the spot.

*POP*

The noise was the start of a feeling that is hard to describe. In the end, Harry described it perfectly in the books It felt like

I was being squeezed through space and time through a small tube.

I landed on my feet, my bare feet, as in naked.

'Well I guess I need to focus on bringing my clothes with me too.' I thought as I took in my state of undress.

'Well at least I still have all my body parts.'

I went about getting dressed again as I became determined to master the magic.

'I wonder if it will let me apparate out of Hogwarts.'

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As it turned out you couldn't, but the good news is that I now know where the ward lines end around the school.

The months leading up to the third task were very productive. I turned fifteen, I mastered apparating, I mastered the disillusionment charm, I was getting closer to mastering the basics of occlumency, my repertoire of spells grew tremendously and I got almost all O's on the classes I cared about, while still scoring high enough on the others to be happy about. I also snuck out one night and took the knight bus to Little Hangleton, it was very small so it was easy to find the graveyard and the headstone.

My mastery of apparition and disillusionment was welcome, it was vital to my plans of ending the war before it even began. So far it was a fairly straightforward plan.

Sneak off during the third task with use of the disillusionment charm, a spell I had been casting for the better part of four months leading up to the task. I am actually pretty confident that I was one of the most proficient users of the spell alive. Then once I am outside of the ward lines, apparate outside the cemetery where Voldemort is supposed to be resurrected in and wait for Pettigrew and baby Voldy to show up. Take them both by surprise and well…..end the war before it could even start, save countless amounts of lives, go on about my new life.

I hoped it would be that easy.

'No plan ever survives first contact with the enemy.' I thought as I sat down in the stands waiting for the champions to be brought out. The hedges of the maze stood in front of us, tall and unwelcoming. They would face many difficult challenges inside.

I always wondered why people even showed up to the tasks, it was literally a waiting game. The spectators couldn't see a thing that was going to happen in the maze, just like they couldn't see into the black lake to watch the second task. The first task was understandable, who wouldn't want to see four wizards go up against a dragon. Plus you could actually see the action taking place.

'I guess not everyone knows what the tasks entail either.' I thought in response to my own questions. They're probably hoping it's something they can watch.

My thoughts were interrupted by the four champions arriving and getting in their positions. I caught Harry's eye and gave him a nod that he returned. Fleur noticed it and sent me a wink, a smile was all I gave in response.

I didn't hear any of the words Dumbledore said before Harry was let into the maze, my heart was pounding in my chest, drowning out all other signs. I stood up as Fleur disappeared next into the maze.

"Ron, where are you going?" Hermione asked in response.

"I'll be right back, just going to the restroom. Might mingle a little too." I said walking away before she could respond.

I got behind the stands pretty soon and made sure no one was around to see me before I cast the charm to make myself invisible. Technically I could have apparated right then and there considering we were outside of the wards. Instead I started walking towards the forest, a place where no one could hear.

I was a good two hundred yards from the stands when I finally decided I had made it far enough. Suddenly I felt a wave of magic wash over me, luckily my wand was already in my hand.

A silver shield sprung up in front of me towards the destination the wave of magic came from, and just in time too.

A red spell connected with my shield, a spell I recognized as a stunner. From the direction it came, Mad-eye shimmered into view as he lowered his disillusionment charm. Mine was already broken by my shield charm.

"Good reactions, boy." Moody said, his eye wasn't wondering, instead it was locked onto me. "Come on, Dumbledore told me to come retrieve you." He lied.

"We both know that he didn't, you can drop the disguise Jr." I responded, calling him out on the lie.

His face hardened, before he smiled, something I hadn't seen him do in all the time he had been teaching us.

'How could I forget about him?' I thought as I realized my stupidity. We both looked to the maze as red sparks flew out of the middle of it. 'Someone is already eliminated? I have to hurry.'

"That is interesting. Yes, the Dark Lord will praise me when I bring him the head of the best friend of Harry Potter." He said as he raised his wand.

I wasted no time in drawing my wand back and casting a fire whip that would have separated his wand arm from his shoulder.

He deflected it away with a swipe of his wand but I was already moving into my next spell. A bombarda was sent his way, right at his feet. He reacted quickly and put up a shield which was perfect for what I wanted. The debris from the spell flew behind him and were quickly transfigured into three arrows, which I willed to fire back at his person.

He saw my wand moving and reacted instinctively, ducking and rolling on the ground. Only one of my arrows landed and managed to pierce his thigh.

I drew first blood but his experience won out and he shot up from the ground with the tip of his wand glowing green.

"Avada Kedavra!" He shouted as a green light burst from his wand.

I had already reacted and conjured a silver shield, the same type that Voldemort will go on to conjure against Dumbledore in the ministry atrium.

A loud 'GONG' echoed throughout the trees as the spell was blocked. I mentally sharpened the edge and banished the shield in his direction. It shot over his head but the distraction was perfect for me because I sent a stunner right after it.

It connected with Moody and he dropped like a sack. I approached and noticed that it wasn't even Mad-Eye Moody anymore, the polyjuice had apparently worn off in the duel because Barty Crouch Jr's body laid before me, unmoving. I grabbed the wand out of his hands and stored it in my robes, not sure if it was the real Mad-Eye's or not.

I transfigured a chair and bound his body to the it with conjured ropes.

"Fuck, Harry!" I said out loud when I was done. Am I too late? I thought as I noticed there were no more spells lighting up the inside of the maze.

I made sure the bindings were still in place, concentrated and then the world twisted.

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A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger.

What does everyone think about these developments? Did we like the duel?

I thought it was very short and one-sided but I also think that Barty was in a different body and had been out of practice for a long time, considering his time in Azkaban. Not to mention he wouldn't expect such skill from Ron.

Let's talk in the reviews!