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"And like you zaid, not w'en t'ey involve me," Percy took her hand, his fingers warm against hers. Together, hand-in-hand, they walked out of the big stone castle. The cool night air felt good on their faces.
They walked out of the castle doors. Lots and lots of students walked near them, going back to their own places. But everyone seemed to know to give Percy and Fleur space, moving aside like they were special.
Their steps were slow on the path. Neither Percy nor Fleur wanted the night to be over. They wished they could just keep walking like this. The lights hanging around the grounds made soft yellow pools on the path ahead.
But soon, too soon, the steps leading up to the big blue carriage showed up. It looked like a small house on wheels.
Fleur must have been the very last student getting ready to leave. She stopped at the bottom step and carefully took off Percy's jacket she had borrowed. She folded it neat and gave it back to him.
"T'ank you Perzy, for an amazing nig't," she smiled, her eyes bright even in the dim light. Her voice was soft.
"You're welcome Fleur," Percy smiled back. Then it got quiet. Really quiet. She looked down and played with her fingers, maybe a little shy. Percy found it hard to look right at her. This tight feeling in his chest was strange, heavy but not bad. Just... big.
"I... goodnig't t'en," Fleur said, and she did a little bow, quick, like she didn't mean to. As soon as she did it, Percy could almost see her wish she hadn't. It felt too formal, too much like saying goodbye for real.
"A-alright," Percy nodded, his own voice a bit shaky. 'No, you fool!' a voice screamed inside his head. 'Tell her to stay! Don't let her go! Just say something!' But the words stayed stuck. Fleur turned and went up the steps, closing the carriage door soft behind her. Percy was left standing alone in the night.
He let out a long breath, a sigh that puffed white in the cool air. Percy turned back towards the castle path, pulling his jacket on. He grumbled low under his breath.
'Fucking coward,' he thought, mad at himself. 'All you had to do was ask her for one kiss! Was that really so hard?! Why did I just stand there?! She wouldn't have said no, I felt it! So why? Why am I like this?! .... Fuck it!'
The anger pushed away the fear. Percy grumbled again, spun right back around, and marched back to the carriage.
His feet hit the ground hard. He reached the door and yanked it open wide. A younger boy walking nearby jumped back, his eyes wide like plates.
"Fleur, where is she?" Percy asked. His eyes looked like he had a plan, sharp and fixed. The scared boy gulped loud and pointed a shaky finger deeper inside the carriage.
Percy stepped past the boy, right into a room that looked like a comfy sitting area for the French students. Soft chairs and low tables were scattered around.
And there was Fleur. She sat with her friends, Camille and Anna, talking in quiet voices. Then she saw Percy. She saw his face, the way he was walking straight for her, his eyes set.
"Perzy w'at are you-ek!" Her word turned into a little squeak. Before she could say more, Percy bent down and lifted her right up into his arms. He held her like a groom carries a bride, easy, like she weighed almost nothing.
He turned and walked straight back towards the exit door. Behind them, Anna's mouth hung open in shock, while Camille started to giggle behind her hand.
"Perzy! Put me down! W'at are you doing!" Fleur hissed, wriggling a little, but Percy held her tight. Her face was close to his chest.
"Something I should have done a long time ago," Percy grumbled back, his voice low and rough. He didn't slow down.
Just as they reached the door, it swung open wider. Madam Maxine, the very tall headmistress of Fleur's school, stood there.
She looked tired from the long night. But then she saw her school champion being carried off by the Hogwarts champion. Her eyebrows went up, curious. "Where are you two going?" she asked, her deep voice filling the doorway.
"Just for a walk, don't worry Madam Maxim! I'll have her back to you safe and sound, promise!" Percy called out over his shoulder. He didn't stop, just walked right past the giant headmistress and out into the open night air again.
He walked a few steps away from the carriage, towards the dark lake, and then took off, straight up into the air! He flew fast, skimming low over the dark, still water of the lake.
"Perzy w'at are you doing?!" Fleur asked again, holding on tight now as the wind whipped past them. Below, the dark water rushed by. He flew higher, up and up, until the castle lights looked small behind them.
"Hey Fleur," Percy said, his voice suddenly very direct, cutting through the sound of the wind. He stopped flying upwards and just floated there, high above the middle of the black lake. "Can I kiss you?" he asked, plain and simple.
"W'at?" Fleur blinked, looking completely puzzled. Her hair blew across her face.
"Can I kiss you?" he asked again, looking right into her eyes.
"Now?" she asked, sounding breathless, maybe from the height, maybe from the question.
"Yes. Right now."
"We are fifty feet in t'e air!" she pointed out, looking down at the dark water far below.
Percy thought for a second. "Would you rather we go underwater? Because I think I can make that work too."
Fleur looked down at the water, then back up at Percy's serious face. A small smile touched her lips. "No," she said softly. "Thiz iz fine." She leaned up just a little bit.
He held her closer, safe and warm in his arms. Their lips met, soft and careful at first, floating there in the quiet dark, high above the lake.
Suddenly—whoop!—Percy's cape seemed to forget how to fly. They dropped downwards fast, maybe ten feet in a second.
Fleur cried out, a sharp sound of shock, and their kiss broke apart. Quick as lightning, Percy focused his mind hard, telling the cape 'Fly! Hold us!' The falling stopped just as fast as it started. They bobbed steady in the air again.
"W'at waz t'at?!" the veela asked, her heart likely still pounding fast.
"Sorry," Percy mumbled, his face getting hot, blushing even in the dark. "The cape... it listens to my thoughts and... well... my mind kind of went blank for a second there. Thinking about... well..." He looked away for a moment, embarrassed. "You know..."
Fleur looked from Percy's red face to the cape hanging off his shoulders, then back to his face. A small giggle escaped her lips, then another, until she broke out in full, happy laughter. The sound echoed soft over the dark water. "Am I t'at good?" she teased, her eyes sparkling with fun.
Percy puffed out his cheeks, trying to look serious but probably failing. "It's not that funny," he mumbled, though even he felt a little silly.
Fleur raised one perfect eyebrow. "Really?" she challenged softly. Before Percy could answer, she wrapped her hands gently around the back of his neck, pulling his face close to hers again.
She kissed him hard this time, a sure, knowing kiss. Her lips were soft and wet against his own. And just like before, the exact same thing happened.
The magic holding the cape up just... stopped. Whoosh! Down they went again, faster this time. Fleur gasped against his mouth, and Percy quickly snapped his focus back, yanking them back under control just feet above the water's surface. Spray kicked up around them.
"I t'ink," Fleur said, pulling back just enough to speak, her voice full of laughter now, "you zhould take uz down, Perzy. Before we end up in t'e lake." She giggled again, shaking her head slightly.
Percy's face felt hotter than ever. "Yeah... yeah, good idea," he agreed quickly. He gently guided them, gliding lower and slower now, towards the shore.
He aimed for the big, old oak tree near the lake's edge, the one with wide branches where they sometimes sat and talked quietly. Its leaves rustled softly in the night breeze.
They landed soft on the grass beneath the tree. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Fleur stepped out of his arms. But she didn't step away.
Instead, she immediately reached for him again, kissing him once more. This time, she pushed him back gently until his shoulders hit the rough bark of the huge oak tree trunk.
The kiss was deep now, slow and wanting. The demigod ran his fingers through her hair. It felt like smooth, fine silk, pale blonde even in the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves.
He breathed in close to her neck, trying to catch her scent. He couldn't put a name on it maybe flowers, maybe something sweet like vanilla, maybe just... Fleur.
Whatever it was, it smelled wonderful, and he liked it a lot.
He leaned into the kiss, holding her close against the solid tree. The world outside seemed to fade away, leaving just the two of them under the old oak.
It was maybe an hour later, maybe more, when Fleur finally walked back towards the bright blue carriage. Her silvery-blonde hair was still smooth, mostly, but the neat, perfect way it had been combed before was definitely gone. It looked softer now, a little mussed, like she'd been running her hands through it, or someone else had.
When she stepped inside, her classmates, still awake and talking, looked up. They saw her slightly flushed cheeks and the happy, dreamy look in her eyes.
They started asking questions, teasing her in French with knowing smiles.
"Where 'ave you been, Fleur?" "Did you 'ave a nice walk?" But Fleur didn't say a word about what happened.
She just smiled, a small, private smile, shook her head gently at their teasing, and went straight to her own little room inside the carriage.
She slipped into bed with that smile still on her face, ready for a very nice, maybe even a little scandalous, dream to wake up to the next morning.
For Percy, it was much the same feeling. He walked back towards Hogwarts castle slowly, his mind replaying the kisses under the tree.
He felt warm and happy, maybe a bit floaty. By the time he got back to his dorm room, most of his friends were already asleep, their curtains drawn shut around their beds.
That was a good thing, he thought. Otherwise, they would have surely asked about the stupid, happy grin plastered all over his face, and he wasn't sure he could explain it right now.
But the next morning wasn't quite so simple. Percy woke up suddenly, his heart pounding hard in his chest. A wave of cold panic washed over him.
Definitely not the feeling a guy usually gets after spending a good part of the night making out with a beautiful girl he really liked. True, it was amazing, but Percy wasn't just any guy, was he? Life was never that simple for him.
As he pulled on his clothes, getting ready for the day, his mind raced. What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to think? He'd never really had a relationship before. Not a real one, not even something close to one that felt stable or normal. His life was usually too chaotic for that.
And what were he and Fleur now? They hadn't exactly stopped kissing long enough to talk about things like 'what does this mean?'
Was she serious about him?
Did she just see it as fun during the tournament?
Was he serious about her?
He thought maybe he was, which was scary too. And then the big question, the demigod question: Would he have to tell her about the Greek Gods, about his dad, about monsters and quests? Could she handle that? Could their relationship handle that?
But under all those confusing questions, one big fear poked at him the most. He could almost picture the Goddess Hecate, his patron, finding out.
What would she say? He had a bad feeling she was going to tease him forever, maybe even kill him with pure embarrassment, when she found out he was now involved with another veela, even a part-veela like Fleur. He remembered Kelly...
Speaking of Kelly, a small yawn came from his pillow. The tiny veela stretched her little wings. Percy smiled, the panic easing just a bit at the familiar sight. "Morning, girl," he whispered. "Had a nice night's sleep?"
"Sleepy," Kelly grumbled in her tiny voice, her eyes closing again almost immediately. She curled back into a little ball.
Percy chuckled softly at her antics. Carefully, he scooped up the mini-veela and tucked her gently inside the hood of his sweatshirt. It was the safest place for her, close by where he could keep an eye on her.
He finished getting ready and walked down the stairs towards the Great Hall. As soon as he walked in, he saw it was packed with students.
But instead of the usual black robes and house colors, almost everyone was dressed in normal, everyday clothes jeans, sweaters, colorful shirts.
It was a rare sight in Hogwarts, where uniforms were the rule most of the time. But since it was the start of the Christmas holidays, and almost everyone had decided to stay at school because of the Yule Ball the night before, the Great Hall buzzed with a relaxed, cheerful energy.
Lots of chatter filled the huge room under the enchanted ceiling, which today showed a bright, clear winter sky.
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If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
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