A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Writing Club November

Amber's Attic: 12 - (character) Fleur Delacour

Scamander's Case: 6 Unicorn - (trait) innocent

Word Count: 2838

The owl landed gracefully in front of Harry. He gently reached out and took the letter from its leg. He recognized the flowing lettering on the envelope instantly and a warm feeling spread through him. He had started writing Gabrielle after the Twiwizard Tournament. She'd written him first, a mushy note about how he was her hero, since he'd pulled her from the icy water of Black Lake. She also wanted to learn to write and speak English better, so could he write back and they would become pen pals? He'd at first rejected the idea.

That summer had been hard, but since no one else was writing him, he had penned her a letter. That letter became the first of many. Harry had never thought it would go much beyond letter writing. Once he started school again and the fact Voldemort was back, Harry started to worry about Gabrielle. She was five years younger than him. What if Voldemort attacked France? What if he attacked Beaubatons? Dumbledore had said there was no safer place than Hogwarts, was Gabrielle in danger? He'd thought to write their headmistress, but with Hagrid missing, he had a feeling Madame Maxine would be with him.

Instead, he wrote a letter to Fleur. Although Fleur was no longer attending Beaubatons, she assured Harry that Gabrielle would be safe there and thanked him for his concern. She'd called him a sweet boy, which made Harry blush brightly when he'd read it. He could picture Fleur saying it, with accent and her long blond hair.

Slowly it occurred to him, Gabrielle spoke the same way. She had long blond hair, yes, she was younger than him, but in a few years, those fives years wouldn't seem like such a distance. Heck, Uncle Vernon was older than Aunt Petunia. He smiled. Gabrielle was safe for now. He was safe enough for now. Now all he had to deal with was the new DADA witch who wanted to make his life a living hell.

He wrote Gabrielle about when he started the DA. He told her about the spells they were learning, said she should make sure she knew some of them. A shield charm at the very least. Her response had been so sweet. She hadn't said he was nutters for wanting to her to be able to fight. She'd agreed He was back, even if the rest of the world didn't.

She was looking forward to seeing Harry hopefully, although she couldn't say more than that. All she could say was that Fleur was in Britain, having taken a job at Gringotts. Harry wondered if Gabrielle would be coming to visit Fleur over the holidays, he hoped so, maybe they could meet up in Hogsmeade and share a... did Gabrielle drink butterbeer?

Harry remembered the chocolate drinks with ice cream he'd seen at Madame Puddlefoot's shop. He could see Gabrielle drinking one of those. Would it be weird to ask her? She was, what, nine? Yes, that would seem weird, although they were friends, pen pals, nothing more. Harry could wait, and maybe find a girl closer to his age to date for now, Ginny was making eyes at him again, and she was cute.

Sirius was dead. Gabrielle sent a bouquet of flowers somehow. The whole thing smelled of perfume and the note she'd sent was beautiful once he'd managed to translate it. She'd been teaching him some French, just as he was helping her with her English. At least she cared that Sirius was dead,

Dumbledore didn't seem to. Ron and Hermione tried to at least offer something, but they didn't realize how deeply this hurt. Gabrielle had lost an aunt, one with whom she'd been close, and she knew the numbness, the pain, the guilt. She seemed to be the only one who understood him. Harry wondered if it was even worth going back to school for his sixth year. Everything just felt black, felt as though nothing good could happen.

He'd expressed these thoughts with Gabrielle. She'd written back nearly instantly telling him about a dress she'd found that fit perfectly, about how she'd made crepes and they didn't burn this time, about how Fleur was now dating a man named Bill. Those little things were what made life bright. Harry didn't agree. He thought what made life bright was Gabrielle. She'd included a picture of her in the new dress, her smile lit up the room when she smiled.

Year sixth started and Harry found school was worse than he'd expected. Snape had taken over DADA. At least potions was tolerable now, the strange book he'd gotten made it much easier. He wondered if he'd had this book while Snape had been teaching, if he would have done better. More likely, Snape would have taken it and burned in front of him.

He still disliked the man, despite the fact there was sense of understanding why he hated him. But Harry wasn't his father, so that reason was a bit of a stretch. Gabrielle wrote him weekly, keeping him informed about the war in France, letting him know she was safe. He wrote her about the fact they were doing something here that might help defeat Him, but he wasn't allowed to tell her details.

The idea of sweet Gabrielle knowing something as evil as horacruxes existed made him sad in a way he couldn't describe, as if he was destroying her innocence. No, he could never tell her about such an evil. It was toward the middle of the year when Gabrielle made the huge announcement. Her sister was marrying Bill Weasley. Harry wanted to smack Ron for not telling him about this. Then again, he didn't think Ron knew just how close he'd grown with Gabrielle. This meant he would be seeing her, hopefully soon!

Dumbledore was dead, and with him, most of the hope of the wizarding world. Bill had been injured by Greyback, but Fleur hadn't cared. Everyone else had survived that awful night. Harry had been right about Snape, but that knowledge didn't console him. Everyone was gathered at the funeral. Harry hadn't been paying attention when a pair of delicate arms wrapped around him. He looked and found himself staring into a pair of blue eyes.

"Gabrielle."

"Harry, I'm so sorry," she whispered hugging him again. She was starting to catch up on him in height a little. Starting to develop slightly into the woman she would become. Harry couldn't help noticing the buds of breasts starting to grow on her chest. He held her and her touch comforted him slightly.

"The wedding is this summer, I'll be there," she promised before they were forced to part. Harry back to the nightmare of his Aunt and Uncle's house and Gabrielle back to France.

Their letters increased in frequency. Harry telling Gabrielle as much as he could about the fact he would not be returning to school, that he might not be able to write her as much, that he needed to defeat Him once and for all. All Gabrielle asked was that he try to stay safe, well, that and he gave her at least one dance at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry happily made that promise.

The night the Order rescued him was insane. He lost Hedwig, they'd lost Moody, and he'd seen Fleur in a bra. His mind couldn't help but wonder if Gabrielle would look anything like that when she was older. He held onto that image for a bit.

He wrote Gabrielle letting her know he was safe, he couldn't say where he was, but she would see him at the wedding. Despite how badly things had gone, he still went to sleep with a smile on his face, thinking about Gabrielle and him dancing.

"Harry?" a sweet voice called. Harry looked out the window and smiled. Standing there waving up to him was Gabrielle. He dressed quickly, tried to flatten his mess of hair, and ran down to greet her.

"You're here!"

"Yes, we arrived early to help with the preparations. Fleur wants everything perfect. Maman is helping Mrs. Weasley with something, could you show me around?" Gabrielle asked letting Harry lead her around the border of the Burrow.

"Harry, will you be leaving after the wedding, to do, well you know?" she asked softly.

"Yes, that's the plan," he answered.

"I thought as much," she answered glancing around quickly. "Then, while we have a moment to just us," she leaned forward and kissed Harry lightly on the lips. "Take this, for luck, and as hopefully a promise to me you will come back to me?"

"I can't," Harry whispered still feeling her lips against his. He wondered if it would be wrong to kiss her.

"Just try then," she'd said looking at him, her eyes filled with tears. "I do not wish to lose you, Harry, not after everything."

"I'll try," he promised hoping beyond all hope that he could keep it. Gabrielle smiled at him and the whole world felt as though maybe, just maybe he could win this war, and come back to her.

The wedding was a dream come true, or least, that's how it had started. Harry had danced with Gabrielle in his disguise. He could feel Fleur watching him. Finally she managed to slip away from Bill and walked over to him.

"Don't break her heart, Harry, she may be a child now, but us Veela girls grow up fast."

"I would never hurt her intentionally," Harry stated. Fleur nodded before returning to her new husband. Harry had been about to have another dance with Gabrielle when the Death Eaters showed up. He was apparated away before he had a chance to make sure she was safe. Hermione and Ron had pretended to care.

They were hiding out in Grimmauld Place when Remus appeared, talking about his future child. Harry managed to press him to find out if Gabrielle was alright. He hadn't heard otherwise, but he would ask Tonks to ask Fleur, and let Harry know. The letter arrived the next day. Gabrielle was safe, she couldn't say where, couldn't tell him much more than that.

She did say she would be going back to school and not worry. It was safe there. Harry worried anyway. He wrote her back, not saying much at all. He couldn't, but he promised he was safe for now also, that things would be alright. He looked at her picture as he wrote her. He'd kept it in his pocket, always with him, since she'd sent it to him nearly two years ago.

The ministry infiltration had gone well, horrible, and at least they had one horcrux now. They would figure out how to destroy it. Now that they were officially on the run, he couldn't write Gabrielle.

He couldn't find out how she was doing in her classes, how the world was reacting to everything, how much she missed him. Did she miss him as much as he missed her? One night he did manage to find an owl, he wasn't sure who it belonged to, but he sent a brief message. He was safe for now. He couldn't write, and he would not be able to get her letters. He cried himself to sleep.

Potterwatch. It was brilliant. And they passed on messages to Harry.

"Tonight we have a special message from a young lady we are calling Diamond. So, if you're listening, Diamond says she is safe and don't forget the promise!" Diamond. Gabrielle. Harry's heart soared. She was safe. He wished he could tell her the same.

Soon that wasn't true. Harry wasn't safe, he was in Malfoy manor. Hermione was being tortured, and then, Dobby was dead and where were they? Shell Cottage. Bill and Fleur's home.

"Harry, I have a message for you," Fleur said as Harry walked back to the house after burying Dobby. "Gabrielle says she can't write you, so she writes me. She told me if I were to ever find you, to give you this." Fleur gave Harry a hard kiss on the cheek. "She said to kiss you for her, so when you see her, you can tell her I passed on the message." Harry felt his whole face flush. He was a bit surprised that Fleur wasn't trying to tell him that Gabrielle was too young for him, he knew a lot of people would say something about the age difference, since Gabrielle was still only thirteen. Fleur seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Veela girls age differently, Harry. Gabrielle will be considered mature at fifteen, and besides, she cares about you despite the fact you're never physically in the same place and she can't use her Veela charm on you. She really loves you for that. You love her for her, not because of her looks," Fleur stated heading back inside the house. Harry wondered if she could convince Gabrielle to visit, the idea of seeing her, of just holding her, was what was keeping him going sometimes. He knew he'd never ask, it would put everyone in danger and he wasn't going to do something that stupid just for one moment with the girl he loved.

Things spiraled from there. Harry discovered the secret of the Elder Wand, discovered where it was, who had it and what had to be done next. Hogwarts. They had to return to Hogwarts, that's where it was all going to end. In a way, he liked the symmetry Everything had started once he started going to Hogwarts. Now, it would end there. He only hoped it ended with him alive and in Gabrielle's arms. He gathered his friends and they started working on a plan.

People screamed all around him, but Harry only could hear one voice. He knew she wasn't there, she couldn't be. This was it, his last stand. The horcruxes had been destroyed, at least he was fairly certain they were all gone now. He stood before Voldemort, feeling braver than he ever had before. He saw him raise his wand and did the same.

The spells seemed to ricochet off each other, Harry felt something like pain, only more so. Then there was a brightness, a white light. Dead. He was dead, but maybe not? The train station loomed around him. He had a choice. Stay dead and the battle would carry on without him. No, he could never abandon his friends, he could never abandon her.

He'd made a promise to his Gabrielle. He was back, on the floor of the Great Hall. And then, like that, in a flash of light, it was over. He had won. All around him people were injured, but no one close to him had died. It had been touch and go for Fred for a moment, but he'd pulled through. Harry knew there was only one thing left for him to do, and if he thought about it, it was scarier than the war had ever been.

He found himself outside a nice house in France about a year after the war. He could feel Gabrielle watching him from the window, but he wasn't here for her, not yet. He was dressed in his best robes, his hair slicked back as much as it would go, and he looked every bit the dashing hero of Gabrielle's dreams. He raised his hand and knocked.

"Bon soir, Monseir et Madame Delacour," he said hoping his French was decent. He'd asked Fleur to coach him on what to say. He'd memorized the words, repeated them standing in front of a mirror, and now, now he was ready to say them for real. He was welcomed inside and led to Monseir Delacour's office. Harry smiled taking a deep breath. He had a feeling they knew why he was there. Fleur might have warned them.

"Puis-je avoir votre bénédiction pour demander la main de Gabrielle en mariage?" Harry asked hoping he'd gotten the words correct. The Delacours looked at each other before nodding.

"Yes, you have our blessings," her father answered in English. "And thank you for asking in our native tongue, that means a lot you took the time to learn."

"Fleur and Gabrielle both helped me," Harry admitted.

"They are good girls. Go, Gabrielle is waiting for you."

"Merci," Harry said slipping from the room. He'd barely taken a step before Gabrielle had wrapped her arms around him.

"What did they say?" Gabrielle asked looking into his eyes. She was nearly his height.

"What do you think they said?" he asked cryptically causing Gabrielle to laugh.

"That you have their consent to marry me when I'm old enough," she stated. Harry nodded. "Good! I've got a few more years of school though."

"Gabrielle, I've waited this long, I can wait for you to finish school. I would wait for you forever if I had to. I love you," he whispered kissing her passionately.