Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter Franchise or its characters. All characters used are the property of their respective owners.

This story is rated M for violence, language, & sexual themes.

This story is a Horcrux free zone.

Warning: Manipulative Dumbledore & Weasley Bashing (Ron, Molly, & Ginny.)

Where the Wild Roses Grow 4

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft

Black Lake

February 11, 1995

Dumbledore stood on the bank of Black Lake, staring down into the murky water frowning. It had been almost twenty minutes since Delacour had brought Harry up from the depths, missing an arm. Outwardly he projected a calm, collected demeanour, but internally he was fuming, the stupid and horny Quidditch player from Bulgaria was ruining his plans. He was initially quite pleased when he heard that the Granger girl would be his date for the Yule Ball. He'd hoped it would force Harry to see Ginny Weasley in a different light, but then he'd allowed his hormones to overrule his head and asked Delacour. Perhaps, in hindsight, if Harry had gotten to Granger first, he would never have become friends with the magically and politically powerful Veela.

But it had given Dumbledore an opening, at least in his mind, by going to the Ball with the Veela, Harry had allowed Dumbledore the freedom to put Ginny under the lake. He'd also invited Skeeter's photographer to the task for this reason. The sight of the Boy-Who-Lived carrying a pure-blood princess out of the water in his arms would be a powerful political image; it could help sway the conservative members of the grey coalition to back Dumbledore's allies in the Wizengamot.

Of course, that plan had been ruined the instant Harry was helped out of the lake, missing an arm. Dumbledore already suspected that the photographer had gotten his picture and was scurrying back to Hogsmeade to deliver the news. As he glanced back towards the stands, Dumbledore sighed inwardly spotted McGonagall accompanied by Amelia Bones.

Below the surface of the lake, Fleur was powering towards the bottom; she'd snatched the spare Ball of Gillyweed out of a pocket of Harry's shorts so she would have the advantage once she was underwater. As soon as she'd felt the gills growing on her neck, she'd dispelled the Bubblehead charm and picked up speed. Fleur knew it would be so easy to ignore Harry's pleas and simply collect her hostage and return to the surface, but something was tugging at her magic, a yearning to see Hermione safe. The logical part of her brain also pointed out that if she left Hermione to the tender mercies of Viktor Krum, Harry would hate her, and she didn't want that. Fleur quickly realised that Harry wasn't merely a boy toy that she could play with and throw away, as she'd done to men in the past. Harry stirred something in Fleur that she'd only ever heard talked about by the elders of the enclave, fanciful stories she'd dismissed as nonsense, until now.

As Fleur approached the Mervillage she spotted Cedric Diggory approaching with Cho Chang in his arms, he waved and frantically pointed towards the village. Through the gloom Fleur spotted Krum dragging a limp Hermione away, but not in the direction of the judges. Fleur's blood turned to ice in her veins, Krum was determined to carry out his threat now that Harry was out of the way. Fleur kicked out her legs to try and catch up; she could feel Cedric trailing behind her. She wanted to wave him off and direct him to the surface, but every second she wasted doing that was a second Krum used to get further away.

Fleur pulled out her wand and cast a cutting curse which sliced Krum's back open, he wrenched and screamed in pain, almost dropping Hermione in the process. He kept one hand on Hermione's nightgown as he spun around to spot the person responsible. When he realised it was Fleur, he dropped Hermione and swam full speed at the Veela, determined to punish the woman who had gotten in the way of him killing Harry Potter.

While Fleur dodged and weaved around the angry shark man, Cedric collected Hermione and swam back towards the Mervillage with the two girls under his arms. As he did Fleur ducked Krum and descended into the kelp, waiting until his back was turned, she sprinted up behind him and shot off a stunner in the direction of the floor of the lake.

Krum spun around and fired off several curses in Fleur's direction, but when he tried to take off after her, he felt a sharp pain in his back. The stunner Fleur had fired had stirred the local Grindylow; they hadn't seen Fleur floating behind Krum, they'd only seen the bright light of the spell. Even then they wouldn't have cared; all Wizards were the enemy.

Fleur swam back to the Mervillage and quickly freed Gabrielle, she took a glance back to see who the last hostage was as she started swimming to the surface with Hermione and Gabrielle under her arms, accompanied by Cedric. She frowned when she realised it was the girl who had interrupted her Hogsmeade date with Harry, the redhead. Fleur was slightly baffled as to who was supposed to save her if she was saving her sister, Cedric was saving Cho and Harry was supposed to save Hermione. Fleur decided not to give it any further thought as they approached the surface, just in time for the Gillyweed to expire.

As they broke the surface of the lake, Hermione, Gabrielle, and Cho finally woke up, several Professors rushed forward wrapping the five in warm blankets and directing them towards the medical tent. Fleur shook off the assistance as soon as they were inside. Instead, she rushed over to Harry's bed, a stifled scream followed behind her as Hermione also rushed over to the raven-haired boy's bed. "What happened!"

"Arry was right, Krum wasn't done with us, Arry saved me from the Grindylow's, but as a price, he lost an arm…" Fleur explained, pulling back the blanket a little to let Hermione see the stump where Harry's arm had been, now wrapped in a bandage.

"Why did you save me?" Hermione asked as Dumbledore approached.

"I would like to know that as well, Miss Delacour, Miss Granger was not your hostage."

Fleur's eyes narrowed as she looked up at the elderly man. "I do not answer to you Headmaster, Arry asked me to save Hermione, and I was not going to let him down."

"But Miss Delacour, Miss Granger wasn't Mister Potter's hostage, Miss Granger was Mister Krum's hostage."

"What?!" The two girls shouted.

"What idiot decided that?!" Hermione asked angrily.

Dumbledore frowned as he felt the amused stares of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey on him. "That would be me, Miss Granger."

"Oh…" Hermione replied, biting her bottom lip.

"Headmaster, Hermione wasn't safe with Krum, when I reached Cho, I could see Krum approaching and instead of collecting her and bringing her back to the surface he took off in another direction. I believe he planned to harm her." Cedric explained.

"As do I," Fleur added.

Dumbledore sighed and removed his glasses, cleaning them on his robes before putting them back on. "I am inclined to agree, but there will be consequences for your actions, as well as his."

"What sort of…" Fleur paused when she heard a commotion outside.

"This is an outrage! We are guests in your country!" Karakoff screamed outside the tent.

Hermione, Fleur, Cho, Gabrielle, and Cedric all ran to the mouth of the tent to watch Krum being placed in handcuffs, his body littered with wounds from the Grindylow attack. Amelia Bones watched on as Karakoff continued to scream in her face. "That does not give him the right to attack and maim one of our citizens; this has the full support of both Headmaster Dumbledore, Headmistress Maxime and the Minister. You may, of course, lodge a formal complaint with the ICW, but Mister Krum will be spending tonight in a DMLE cell."

Bones gave a small wave to her Aurors and they, along with Krum, disappeared in a puff or portkey magic. A fuming Karakoff then approached the Medical tent. "Dumbledore, I demand you have Viktor released!"

Dumbledore maintained a kind smile as he addressed the Drumstrung Headmaster. "Igor, your young charge has got himself into quite a bit of trouble. He viciously attacked one of my students and left him without an arm; I'm afraid I had little choice but to send for the Aurors."

"He sent for the Aurors…?" McGonagall muttered indignantly.

"It was a schoolyard tiff…" Karakoff protested.

"Schoolyard tiffs don't end up with students missing arms, Headmaster Karakoff, and I would remind you that while you are guests of Hogwarts, our laws still apply to you, as they would apply to us if we were guests of your country. Wouldn't you demand justice if Viktor were attacked?"

"But he was attacked Dumbledore!" Karakoff yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Fleur. "That girl, that Veela attacked him."

Dumbledore turned to look at Cedric. "Is that true?"

Cedric shook his head. "I saw Krum being attacked by Grindylow, but not Fleur; she merely rescued Hermione."

"I see, there you have it, Igor, unfortunately, without evidence of an attack I can't allow you to make baseless accusations against Miss Delacour, is that all?"

"What of the rest of the tournament? If Viktor doesn't participate, he'll lose his magic!"

"Sounds fair to me…" Hermione muttered.

"There is plenty of time between now and the Third Task; I'm sure we can reach a suitable compromise in the meantime," Dumbledore replied, shepherding Karakoff towards the entrance of the tent.

Once Karakoff was gone, Hermione fixed McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Pomfrey with a firm stare. "What about Harry's arm? Can you fix it?"

Madam Pomfrey looked grim as she approached the bed, she bit back a small smile at the way Hermione's hands had drifted into his hair and onto his hand, respectively. "We recovered Mister Potter's arm, but it had been attacked by Grindylow's, there wasn't enough left to make re-attaching it worthwhile."

"So that's it, Harry's just going to go through the rest of his life without his left arm?!" Hermione shouted indignantly.

"Miss Granger, control yourself!" McGonagall yelled admonishingly.

Hermione looked down at the bed as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "Sorry, Professor…"

"May I say something?" Fleur asked.

"Of course, Miss Delacour," McGonagall replied.

"My people have much experience with losing limbs, through our history we've been attacked and slaughtered by Muggles who feared our avian form. Many Veela would return to the enclave needing their wings regrown, that potion recipe is still current today, although its use is uncommon. I owe Arry my life; he saved me when the Grindylow attacked me. Even in a small way, I would like to repay that debt."

"This potion was created to treat Veela, would it even be safe for a human to ingest?" Pomfrey asked.

"Humans and Veela are very alike, I don't see why this potion would hurt Arry, but I will consult with the Elder of my Enclave and my Mother to make sure. Do I have your permission?"

"Yes," Hermione replied immediately, she then blushed and looked down at the bed when she saw her Professors and Madam Pomfrey looking at her with smiles on their faces.

"I think that would be acceptable Miss Delacour," Dumbledore finally agreed to allow Fleur to leave and make the arrangements. Meanwhile, Hermione, Pomfrey and Harry were Portkeyed up to the Castle, so Harry, even unconscious, would be spared the spectacle of being paraded while missing an arm.

Harry awoke to a dull ache in his left arm, and he wasn't sure why he couldn't even remember what happened to make his arm hurt. Then it came back to him, the task, saving Fleur and the attack. The last thing he remembered was pleading with Fleur to save Hermione. "Hermione!"

Harry's eyes snapped open as he tried to get up, only for a pair of hands to press firmly on his shoulders and push him back down. "Harry, it's ok, it's me."

Harry's eyes widened but then softened a little. "Hermione, you're ok."

Hermione smiled as she let go and sat down beside him. "Of course, I'm ok."

"I was worried, I thought Krum…" Harry began.

Hermione nodded, grabbing Harry's right hand. "It's ok now Harry, Krum's gone."

Harry looked up and around, finally realising he was in the Hogwarts Infirmary. "Gone? What… how long have I been unconscious?"

"About twelve hours, it's just after dinner."

"Did Fleur save you?" Harry asked timidly.

Hermione nodded. "Krum was trying to… Krum tried to hurt me, but Cedric and Fleur stopped him, Professor Dumbledore had Krum arrested, he's in a cell in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement office in London, he can't hurt us anymore Harry."

Harry finally relaxed looking down his body, and he raised his left shoulder studying the stump where his arm had been, which was now wrapped in a bandage up to the shoulder blade. "You'd think I'd be more freaked out…"

"Madam Pomfrey gave you a calming draft a little while ago, but it'll be ok Harry, Fleur knows the recipe to a potion that can regrow your arm."

Harry smiled. "Magic is brilliant."

Hermione blushed and looked away. "Yeah, it is."

Harry and Hermione sat for a few minutes, and a house-elf delivered Harry's dinner, which Hermione helped him with given he only had one arm. Then, after a long session of silence, Harry spoke. "Hermione, did Fleur tell you what I said when I asked her to save you?"

Hermione shook her head, causing Harry to swallow hard, he picked up his glass and took a large pull of water and took a deep breath. "I said, save Hermione, please, I love her."

Hermione's face turned a deep shade of red as she turned away. "Y-you mean as a friend…"

Harry smiled, reaching out to gently place his fingers under her chin, turning her to face him. "No, I meant I love my beautiful best friend, the person who means the most to me in the whole world."

Harry took another deep, shuddering breath. "Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?"

Harry suddenly had the wind knocked out of him by Hermione, who wrapped him in one of her trademark Hermione hugs. "Yes! Yes, I'll be your girlfriend!" Hermione squealed happily.

Outside Fleur was standing with a bottle of potion, she rested her back against the wall parallel to the door as she wiped some tears away. She could feel her heart being torn in two, she wanted to hate him, curse the ground he walked on, but Fleur couldn't, she couldn't deny him this happiness. Fleur had been warned never to fall in love with a wizard, and they always betray you, her Grandmother said. Fleur tightened her grip around the bottle of potion and walked into the adjoining office where Madam Pomfrey was waiting. "Good evening."

"Good evening Miss Delacour is that the potion?"

"Oui," Fleur placed the potion on the desk and uncorked the stopper. "The potion requires a drop of Veela blood, and it mustn't be added until its almost ready to use. Once I've added my blood, it must sit for twelve hours, when the potion turns bright blue it's ready for Arry to ingest."

"Will you be here when Mister Potter drinks the potion?"

Fleur looked out into the ward to see Harry and Hermione resting their foreheads against each other, murmuring. Fleur frowned and turned away. "He doesn't need me, Madam Pomfrey, he will be fine."

Madam Pomfrey made to say something but was distracted by a commotion in the other room. The two women looked up and saw that Ginny Weasley had burst in, her blue eyes ablaze with anger. "You were supposed to rescue me!"

Harry gave Ginny a baffled stare as he glanced at Hermione and then returned his gaze to Ginny. "Excuse me?"

"You were supposed to save me, you jerk! Professor Dumbledore promised that you would carry me out of the Black Lake in your arms like a Princess in the books Mum read to me. But you didn't, you didn't even have that Veela save me, you made her save Granger instead! Granger wasn't even your hostage, I was! Why didn't you save me, Harry!"

Harry fumbled with the covers of his bed, finally wrestling free as Hermione hopped out of the way, allowing him to stand. "I'm sorry Ginny, I was a bit busy bleeding out from having my arm torn off."

"I don't care, a real hero would have kept swimming and saved the Princess, you're no hero!" Ginny bit back staring at the stump.

Harry gave a hollow laugh in response. "You've finally said something I agree with, I'm not a hero, I'm just Harry. I don't know why Professor Dumbledore put you under the lake because you're certainly not the person I would miss most."

A loud crack echoed around the Infirmary as Ginny slapped Harry across the face, running out of the room in a flood of tears. Harry sighed as he walked back to the bed, rubbing his face absently. "That was a bit mean, Harry."

Harry gave Hermione a single shoulder shrug as he sat down. "I know it was, but if it shatters the illusion of the Boy-Who-Lived for her, then it might have been a good thing. I meant it too, and I wouldn't have saved her…"

"Yes, you would have, you would have saved us both, and Fleur's sister if you'd been down there, because you are a hero, even if you don't mean to be. Besides, I thought you were quite dashing the night of the Yule Ball."

Harry blushed and looked away. "W-well I thought you looked like a princess that night."

Hermione blushed and looked away, giving the two a moment of silence before the doors of the Infirmary were once again flung open to reveal another Weasley, this time Ron. "Where the fuck do you get off, Potter?!"

"Ronald, language!" Hermione replied admonishingly.

Ron glared at her for a second returning his gaze to Harry, who scrambled out of bed, placing himself between the two. "You couldn't help yourself, and you had to go snitch to Dumbledore about Krum."

"You mean because Krum tore my arm off?" Harry asked.

"It's a competition! People get hurt playing Quidditch all the time!" Ron roared.

"This isn't Quidditch, Ronald! They weren't competing against each other for a prize, and they were competing to find out who could complete the task the fastest. Krum had no right to attack Harry, and Professor Dumbledore was right to have Krum taken away to jail."

"You don't get it, Krum is more important than your stupid arm! He's the most important member of the Bulgarian Quidditch Team! You can't lock him away for hurting Potter."

Hermione gaped at Ron. "You're serious! Harry lost an arm!"

"But Bulgaria lost a Seeker, Gryffindor is important, but Krum was the Seeker for a National Team…"

Harry ran forward and grabbed Hermione by the wrist as she stalked forward with her wand in her hand. "Hermione, stop, he's not worth it," Harry said to her before turning to Ron. "Leave now."

Ron's eyes moved from Hermione back to Harry. "Wise up Potter; my sister isn't going to wait around forever…"

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind…" Harry replied as he watched Ron leave, not letting go of Hermione's arm until he was gone. Once he was out of sight, Harry slackened against her and Hermione's eyes widened. "Harry?"

"I'm, uh, not feeling so hot…" He explained as Hermione helped him back to the bed.

"You prat, you're hurt, you shouldn't be stressing yourself out like this!" Hermione replied admonishingly.

"I'd be able to rest if I wasn't so damn popular…"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she arranged Harry's pillows to give his head, back and shoulder support, stealing pillows from empty beds when the ones on Harry's weren't enough. She finally sat down, cradling Harry's remaining hand in her lap. They sat quietly for a few minutes until Hermione spotted Fleur passing by the door. Hermione excused herself and hurried out after her. "Fleur!"

Fleur stopped and stiffened, turning around slowly, her face softened when she met Hermione's eyes. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"I wanted to say thank you for saving Harry, and me, you didn't have to do that, you could have left Harry to bleed out under the lake and me to… be taken away by Krum."

"Mister Potter… Arry is… he's a special person, and I owed him for helping me first. But you shouldn't thank me for saving you, and I wouldn't have done it if he hadn't asked."

"But you did, and that means I should at least thank you," Hermione replied, fidgeting, and looking down at the ground between them. "I know we haven't been on the best of terms, but I would like us to be friends, and I know Harry would like that too… so, can we try, for his sake?"

Hermione looked up into Fleur's eyes and any hesitation the blonde girl had vanished. The kind brown eyes staring back at her stirred something in Fleur that she hadn't felt for another woman before. Fleur understood why Harry was so drawn to the brown-haired girl, not only was she beautiful, but she radiated a fierce determination and loyalty to Harry that Fleur couldn't match, at least not yet.

"I would like that, but I won't give up on him, I still desire Arry, but I won't pursue him while you're together," Fleur explained.

Hermione smiled and blushed, looking away. "Y-you saw that?"

"Oui, I was coming to deliver the potion to Madam Pomfrey, I heard your conversation. I would never steal a man from another woman, regardless of whatever rumours you might have heard. But if you hurt him…" Fleur said, stepping into Hermione's personal space as her wand appeared in her hand. "There will be consequences."

Hermione looked up and smiled, determination radiating in her eyes. "I would never hurt him like that. I love Harry, and I will always love him."

"As will I," Fleur replied in a whisper.

"Uh, hi?"

Fleur and Hermione turned to see Harry standing in the doorway of the Infirmary, leaning against the frame for support as sweat poured down his face. Both girls immediately dragged him back to bed and scolded him for overexerting himself. Madam Pomfrey chuckled to herself as she made a cup of tea, confident that for once, Harry Potter would do as he was told, or he would rue the consequences of defying three angry witches.

To Be Continued…

I've had a few people yelling at me in the reviews for not instantly disqualifying Krum, my counter-argument for that is, it was a situation in progress. It wasn't time yet to make those decisions if they'd just decided that instant, he was disqualified he might have lost his magic and drowned. He should have been at least forced to answer for what he did.

Thanks for reviewing:

01eggy10, Rori Potter, FicTIuNFaN (x4), Aaron Leach, katmom, Darthzap, Kairan1979, SLYNNR, The Ghostly Minion (x4), Vanadir, .9279, rb2312, Dr. Bunny, Yoto, DJDrake, god of all, Seros109.