You could say that this is a test chapter to see if anyone would like to read this. I got hit with the plot bunny at school in French class. Good thing I always have my spiral notebook with me at all times there. J.
Speech denotes French. My French is too amateur and I'm too lazy to write out all the translation to use actual French is this story.
"Speech" denotes English. I'll try to put some of the accent details for the native French speakers in such as silent H's but for the most part you may have to pretend that it's there.
'Words' denotes thoughts of either language. Just think about who doing the thinking and the language that they are thinking in should be obvious.
~Speech~ denotes Parseltongue—whenever that should show up. (Don't the ~'s make you think of snakes?)
THIS WILL BE SLASH OF THE DRACO MALFOY/HARRY POTTER PERSUATION! You have been warned so don't complain about what happens later should I continue it.
OotP is not acknowledged in this story as it is AU! And, well, to tell the truth, I thought that OotP was a bit of a disappointment really.
It is usually helpful to read my notes at the bottom of the chapters… and at the top to for that matter. You might find out some information.
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
"All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle."
Francis of Assisi
Light of a Single Candle
Halloween 1981:
"Lily! Take Harry and run! It's him!" James Potter yelled from his position looking out of the windows next to the front door of their cottage named Godric's Hollow. He had thought that he had heard the 'cracking' sound that meant the arrival of apparating wizards and witches. Unfortunately, he was correct. The normal calm and collected former head-boy of Hogwarts skidded in the living room where his wife of just three years was panicking.
"Are you sure?" Long auburn hair whirled about as Lily ran towards Harry's playpen, grabbing their sleeping son gently in her arms. Just then a loud laugh could be heard as well as a cacophonous voice taunting the young couple as a loud bang signaled that the door had just been blown off its hinges.
"Just go! I'll hold him off!" He then kissed Lily's and his son's faces before pushing them towards the back stairway—away from Voldemort and his acerbic voice and laughs…
There are several ethnic groups of Veela just as there are for humans. And just like the differing physical characteristics of the cultural groups of humans—from Oriental to Hispanic, there are different looks to the different kinds of Veela.
The most well-known and most populace of the Veela clans would be the Sidvyll clan. This clan is most known for their platinum blonde hair and pale colored eyes—usually about gray or blue in color.
Not as often, however, are the Veela of the Syndelle clan seen. They are classified as being brunettes and have earthly toned eye colors—mostly browns, greens, and what lies between the two.
Although differences do exist between the two clans, their main ethic values are the same. Family, of which, is the most important. Veelas tend to have families ranging the size of having only a single child and up to two children. Women Veela are known to not be able to conceive again after the second child. So with the smaller numbers, families were given even more emphasis.
Seven Years Later:
No one truly knew what happened that Halloween night after the point where James confronted Voldemort. James woke up on November 12 from a coma to find that his wife had no memory of the night after the point in which Voldemort had shot the Cruciatus Curse at her before trying to get to her son and Voldemort screaming as green was reflected back on him. And even these memories were nothing more than recurring images flashing through her mind and not actually true scenes.
All that everyone was practically positively positive about was that Voldemort was either gone or in hiding—and had been for the almost the past seven years. Being that Voldemort wasn't the type to bide his time for seven long years, it was widely believed that he was either dead or in just a state where he couldn't do anything—not the best ideal situation but better than fully alive.
All that everyone was very truly positively positive about was that Harry James Potter, the one believed to be the cause of Voldemort's fallback (and thus made into a national hero), was missing and had been from that night. Being that no trace or ash was found of him from when Sirius Black arrived to Godric's Hollow to when Albus Dumbledore himself came to search at the scene, it was said that Harry Potter had been taken by Death Eaters and killed or tortured for the destruction of their master.
And yet, even with these depressing thoughts, the Potters and their friends had not stopped their search for the missing boy. And the one reason for this was one of the reasons why the situation had first come about. Peter Pettigrew, at one time a trusted friend of the Potters and now on the run from the Ministry of Magic for being a well-known (now) Death Eater, had stated, quite rudely at the time, that Harry Potter was not dead but that he might as well have been to them because he would not be able to be found by one of them…He was to suffer the same childhood as his late master who had come from one of the purest of pure lines with the blood of Salazar Slytherin in his veins.
Orphanage.
And his words rang true. No matter how many searched and no matter how long the search continued, the boy could not be found. However, what no one, not even the Death Eaters, had planned on occurring did happen.
Harry James Potter was adopted.
Of course, he didn't go under the name of Harry James Potter at the orphanage in France where he had been unceremoniously left on October 31, 1981.
Being that he was adopted the day after he had been dropped off, even the orphanage had not come up with a name for the beautiful child with a curiously shaped scar on his forehead.
A family of Sidvyll Veelas and a single Syndelle Veela living in France and visiting Paris that day had found orphanage—quite by accident or by fate—and had happened to have seen the boy with no name sitting there staring out the small, slightly dingy window saying, "Mama? Daddy?" every few seconds.
The patriarch of the family had asked the orphanage's director about him. The beautiful child which looked as if he could almost be a Syndelle Veela himself. He and his wife had always wanted a son… But with two children already—both of which they loved dearly—it did not seem to be an available option for them to ever have a son until they came by here.
Most Veelas do not adopt human children unless they are of remarkable beauty and power. The adopted human children must have some amount of magic in their blood to be able to be accepted into a Veela family. This stems from the fact that the adopted child receives some of the more Veelian qualities—such as their strength, slight mind powers (this depends upon how powerful the family being adopted into is), and some of their beauty. The human child needs to have a supreme beauty not because of the belief that Veelas are better than normal humans but rather the fact that growing up surrounding by Veelian children and friends while not containing some sort of hypnotic beauty of your own is not the easiest of lives to live, especially when the time comes for a Veela's Rite of Passage at the age of sixteen.
Rites of Passage are highly important to Veelian society—even the humans adopted into the society. This is the age in which Veelas are considered to be fully grown—except in special circumstances. This is also the time when the head of the families begin finding potential suitors for their children. Compatibility is key in the survival and prosperity of the Veelian society. It is said that Veelas will know in their hearts when they meet the one that is met for them although it might take their minds a while to catch up with their hearts.
And so that day, Amadeus Delacour, his wife Jacqueline (both of whom where half-Veelas) and their daughters Fleur and month-old Gabrielle welcomed a new addition into their home.
Lucian Delacour. Not Harry Potter anymore.
Halloween 1988—Tirion, France:
The Delacour family always celebrated Lucian's birthday on Halloween although they knew he had in fact been born some time during the summer. The birthday change made him several months younger to most people's beliefs. To the Delacour family, including Lucian, Halloween was the day he was born because that as the day he was left at the orphanage which led to him being adopted into their family.
Those who knew the Delacours found it hard to believe that Lucian who actually was not truly a relative by blood. With his dark raven hair, ivory complexion, and aristocratic features (further enhanced by properly fitted clothing), Lucian looked strikingly like a Syndelle Veela. Being that Amadeus was descended from a Syndellian lineage with raven hair and hazel eyes it was easy for everyone, even true Veelas, to mistake Lucian as an actual Veela himself.
Lucian was celebrating his eighth birthday that day. It would be the first time for him to ever celebrate a birthday without his whole family being there since as far back as he could remember. His elder sister of three years, Fleur, had just started her first year at Beauxbatons. For Lucian, who had grown up in a very tight knit family, it was strange to not have his sister there for him with his questions—and he always had many questions to ask about any subject—especially magic which he showed an aptitude for. Everyone always said that he had a natural curiosity which was only rivaled by his younger sister of around a year, Gabrielle.
Speaking of Gabrielle…
Wake up, brother! Mother and father are taking us to Paris today! Fleur sent your birthday gift by owl, by the way. Narya arrived with it just a few minutes ago. Narya, was Fleur's owl, gifted to her upon her acceptance into Beauxbatons.
Lucian groaned as he turned onto his side away from his little sister. She was jumping on his bed and being that he was sprawled across the entire mattress in a diagonal line, she was effectively waking him up by jumping on him more than the actual bed.
'How immature can newly-turned seven year olds get, God?' he questioned in his mind. He, of course, was ignoring the fact that he was only celebrating his eighth birthday that day.
Gabby, calm down! I'm getting up. He then rushed out of his bed and he towards the bathroom connected to his room to shower and get ready. Lucian had always loved trips into Paris and the wizarding district there.
The Delacour family lived in a pure wizarding town called Tirion just an hour drive away from Paris. Quite a few other part-Veela families lived there as well.
Of course none of the Delacour family realized that this day of celebration for them was a day of mourning for another family in Britain.
It would take a few more years yet for any of the families to meet each other.
End Prologue
I know, I know. You're probably thinking that this is another one of those Veela fics. (Not that I have anything against them! I love Veela Sin and Veela Blood which are probably the first two stories to venture into the world of Veelas (or well, of a Veela Sin).
But, yes, this story is, in one sense of the word another one of those Veela fics. Harry does grow up with the Delacour family who are all part-Veela but he himself was not born one and Draco Malfoy isn't a part-Veela in this story, at least, I'm not planning on that now… But it might change. He might be part something else in here but that all depends upon what I feel like writing.
And the Rites of Passage are like a coming-of-age. They aren't some type of 'rush to go have sex and be bonded for the rest of your life'. It's kind of the debutante's ball in a Veela way… I guess. It's just a tradition of their society and the beginning of the looking for a suitable life mate.