Harry whistled as soon as he had entered the owlery, not even a second later, Hedwig flew down and landed on the nearest perch to him. He smiled at her as he reached up and petted her while one black tentacle came out of his back and shut the door behind him, the tentacle faced Hedwig and Venom's face appeared on the tip of it.
"How are we today, girl?" Harry asked, still petting her.
"Missed you," Carnage's voice spoke when Hedwig opened her beak.
"Missed you too," Harry said fondly.
"As did I," Venom added, reaching over and gently tapping his head against Hedwig's.
"So, Hedwig," Harry asked, still smiling. "What exactly did you and/or Carnage do to Draco?"
"I'm a good girl," She said innocently.
"Uh huh," He replied in an amused manner. Carnage and Hedwig did not refer to themselves as 'we' like Venom and Harry liked to do, not anymore at least. Harry suspected that it was because their bond was even deeper due to Carnage being born from within Hedwig's blood. He sometimes wondered if he and Venom would ever become like that, personally he hoped not as he was happy with the dynamic that they had now.
"Why spoil the surprise?" Venom chuckled. "It'll be fun to see, I imagine."
"Yep," Hedwig/Carnage chirped. "Father, I have news, the humans are building something inside the quidditch pitch,"
"Are they?" Venom asked in an intrigued voice. "Perhaps it's for the third task,"
"We did receive a summons to be there later today, so maybe we'll find out," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps," Venom frowned. "But we do have other matters to discuss, Tonks is investigating us."
"We already knew that," Harry reminded him. "She hasn't found anything yet, besides, we can work something out if she does. It's Tonks, she wouldn't hurt us."
"She might not, but others can and will try if given the opportunity," Venom replied. "We need to be prepared,"
"Yes, you're right," Harry sighed.
"I could eat them," Hedwig suggested.
"That'll be plan B," Harry said without missing a beat.
"It'll be troublesome if we're discovered, but then again, a lot of these wizards don't really need their brains," Venom said thoughtfully.
"Let's just put a pin in that for now," Harry suggested. "Do either of you have any idea what's going on with Fleur? I haven't managed to talk to her in days, if I didn't know better then I'd think that she was avoiding me."
"Do you know better?" Hedwig asked genuinely.
"I hope so," Harry frowned.
"Follow me, Champions!" Ludo Bagman said enthusiastically as all of the champions met up together outside of the castle. The man looked positively excited like he was about to get twenty years' worth of presents that night. As the champions started walking, Harry slid up to Fleur and tried to place his hand in hers, only for her to quickly pull her hand away and increase her pace so that she walked past both the other champions and was only a short few steps behind Bagman. Victor and Cedric both noticed as they gave him questioning looks, he replied to those looks with the universal 'I don't know what I did' face that most men in relationships have.
Pretty soon they arrived at the quidditch stadium, a horrified look appeared on Cedric's face as they got in. The field of the quidditch pitch, usually just a lot of grass, was now replaced with some very, very large bushes.
"Ta-da!" Ludo gestured to the maze with a grin. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"No," Cedric said at once.
"Relax, relax," Ludo chuckled. "You'll have your field back soon enough, this is just for the third task. Can anyone guess what it is?"
"Maze," Krum grunted.
"Exactly," Ludo clapped his hands together. "The third task is a maze, Professor Sprout actually helped grow it, you know. You'll start from the outside and have to make your way in."
"That's it?" Cedric asked sceptically.
"Well, obviously it'll be a bit more complicated than that," Ludo laughed. "There will be several obstacles and traps placed in, you know, your wards and your magical creatures and such. The rules are quite simple, singular lady and multiple gentlemen, you start at the outside and the first person to reach the trophy in the centre will be the one who wins the Triwizard Tournament and receives all the benefits that come with it! Any questions so far?"
"Only one, was Hagrid involved in this?" Harry asked.
"Yep!" Ludo nodded.
"Fuck," Cedric and Harry sighed, both of them exchanged knowing looks. Hagrid was a nice guy, but he left a lot to be desired in the understanding of what classifies as dangerous. However, Harry thought that he didn't really have room to talk as he was in close contact with two beings that could likely kill most of the castle if they wanted to.
"Well, if there are no further questions then off you pop," Ludo said cheerfully. "Best to get practising and make sure to bring your best for the third task!"
The champions, took that as their signal to start leaving, Fleur all but sprinted away once given the clear to leave. Unfortunately for her, Harry was a lot faster and had managed to catch up to her the second she had gotten out of the stadium.
"Fleur, wait," Harry said as he started walking next to her. "Why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm not avoiding you," She said without looking at him or stopping.
"Could have fooled me," Harry snorted. "We've not said a word to each other in days, and now you're acting like I'm trying to hurt you or something. Why won't you talk to me? What did I do?"
"If I'm bothering you so much then maybe you should go to Tonks instead," She sniffed, only to stop walking when Harry jumped in front of her.
"I'm with you because I want to be with you," He said firmly.
"But you have feelings for her,"
"I have feelings for you, I care for you, Fleur, you're one of the best things that have ever happened to me." He said genuinely.
"No," She said, her voice catching in her throat for a moment. "No, I am not."
"Are you...are you breaking up with me?!" He blurted out, this seemed to shock Fleur out of whatever mood she was in as she now looked genuinely horrified.
"No, I..." She trailed off, tears dripping down her face. "I don't want to break up with you, but...but maybe it'd be best," She said quietly, hanging her head down.
"That's it, follow me," Harry said impatiently as he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him to the castle, she showed no resistance as he did so. A minute or two later, he brought them to the nearest empty classroom he could find. After locking the door and casting several privacy spells, he turned to Fleur who seemed to barely notice that she was no longer on the quidditch pitch. "Fleur, please," Harry said, staring her right in the eye. "What is this about?"
"Harry," She tried to pull her hand out of his but he held tight, she let out a resigned sigh as she looked at him. "Harry, I am a veela,"
"I know that,"
"Do you know what that means?" She said with a small shake of her head. "I think you do not, I am not fully human. I am a creature according to everyone,"
"I don't give a shit what everyone thinks, you're more human than half of those bastards anyway," Harry said firmly.
"Harry, do you know who my parents are?" She asked him whilst wiping the tears off her face.
"No, but what does it matter? I-"
"My father is the French Minister of Magic," She said, cutting him off. "Do you know how he got to that position? It wasn't simply because he was the best politician available, no, it was largely thanks to my mother. The woman who used her allure and bent all of his opposition to her will so as to make him win. He hadn't even wanted to become the Minister but he did it for her, he slaves away in his office while she enjoyed the fruits of his labour. She sleeps with whoever she wants, whenever she wants and he will not do a thing. He will not hear of anything against her, that's how deep her allure is."
"So your mother is a total bitch, what does that have to do with -"
"What do you think my mother will do if I bring you to my home?!" Fleur demanded red-faced. "She'd have plans even if you were just an ordinary boy. But when you're Harry Potter, the boy who lived and second place in the Triwizard Tournament -"
"Second?"
"Then she'll demand that I do to you what she did to my father or she'll try to do the same!" Fleur cried. "And if she can't do it by herself then she'll call some more veela, no matter how powerful you are, you won't be able to resist that many."
"You'd be surprised," Harry said, a hair's breadth away from smirking.
"I can't do that to you, Harry," She said, placing her hands on the sides of his face. "I care for you, I care for you deeply, I have to protect you."
"I can take care of myself, Fleur," He replied, pulling her hands down and holding them in his own. "We can look after each other,"
"Harry, you would not be happy in life with a creature like me," She sniffed.
"You are not a creature," He said calmly and firmly.
"Am I not?" She said challengingly as she escaped his grasp and took several steps back. She spread her hands out and stared at him for a moment before she started transforming in front of his eyes. Her usually perfect face shifted and changed, elongating into a sharp, beak-like appearance, her eyes narrowed and changed into a bright red colour as scaly wings erupted out from her shoulders while feathers sprouted out of her arms. Harry was sure that if Venom wasn't with him then he'd probably be a slave under her allure right now. "Am I not a creature?!" She demanded. "Am I not a monster? Do you think you know what it's like having to hide such a side of yourself? My every instinct tells me to do as my mother does, to live a life as she does. But I can't! I won't become like her! I will not turn you into a copy of my father, Harry!" She said before she slowly started changing back to normal, her head dropped down as she stared at the ground. "I will not do this to you, Harry, you deserve more than to be with a monster like me." She sighed, taking several deep breaths as she continued staring down at the ground.
The room was silent, she couldn't help but wonder what Harry was thinking, was he disgusted by her? Afraid? Was this the end of their relationship? The very thought saddened her, her relationship with Harry was the best she had in her life, besides her sister, and now she had to throw it away. If only to protect him. She couldn't -wouldn't - let the man who saved her sister and made his way into her heart be just another victim of her mother. She let out another sigh when the silence remained, after a minute, neither of them had said anything. She took in a deep breath, ready to raise her head up and leave when Harry finally spoke.
"You think you know what it's like?" His voice was soft, whispery. "You think you know what it's like to have a dark side?" She looked up, ready to retort, and promptly froze when she saw what was happening in front of her.
A black goo seemed to be covering up Harry, encasing his entire body before doing the same to his head. The goo seemed to solidify and suddenly, standing in front of her was the same person who had saved her at the Quidditch World Cup. He looked exactly as Fleur remembered him, all black with tear-dropped white eyes and a white spider logo on his body. She was unable to find the words to express what she was feeling as she realised that her boyfriend, the man she had fallen for, was the same person who had also eaten heads and saved not just her life but also her sisters. That would mean he had saved them twice now!
"Harry," She said eventually, taking a few steps forward. "I-" She trailed off as he seemed to start transforming once more, increasing in size until he was roughly around nine feet tall. His head transformed, now the eyes were more jagged and sharp. He also had a mouth with two rows of long fangs and an elongated tongue, saliva could be seen that looked more like poison than anything else. He reared his head back and let out an ear-shattering roar that would have been heard quite a distance away if not for the spells that Harry had placed around the room.
"You think you know monsters?" Venom asked as he stared down at her. "You think we need protection? We don't need protection from anyone, we have each other." He leaned down and placed his head next to Fleur who tried not to flinch as those razor-sharp teeth moved next to her face. "By the way," He whispered. "My human is quite fond of you, and now I am as well, don't fuck it up." He said, taking a step back before suddenly transforming back into the one and only Harry Potter.
"Ta-da," Harry said dryly. "I think I'm good when it comes to danger,"
"Harry, what was that?" She gulped.
"That was Venom, he's my friend, my family, he won't harm you, Fleur." He assured her. "Tell me, are you frightened now?" He asked. "Do you want to leave me now? Knowing that I'm a monster?"
"I..." She trailed off, staring at him. The two stared at each other for several moments before she rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry," She sobbed into his shoulder.
"It's alright, Fleur," He said, hugging her back. "I'm sorry too, I didn't like hiding this from you. Fleur," He said, pushing her away far enough that he could look her in the eye. "I...what brought this all on? We were okay before,"
"I..." She coughed as she stared at him. "I had a talk with your headmaster,"
"Did you?" Harry asked lightly with narrowed eyes. "That's interesting,"