"Therefore, I have to ask, Professor," he continued. "Are all your new Prefects this stupid?"
She sighedq my question only with a yes or no. Do not extrapolate. Keep you mouth otherwise shut... Is what Lord Potter just told me, true?"
Davies looked ready to shout and visibly reined in his temper before he gritted out, "Yes."
She just shook her head at him and sighed. Then she raised her off hand, palm out andas flat, and said, "Badge. Now."
When he gaped at her in shock, she said, "Now; Mister Davies."
Clearly angry, Davies removed his Prefects' badge and almost slapped it into her hand.
"Right," she said, closing her fist around it. "It appears I now have to address the entire House, yet again, to let them know they most certainly are not required to sit at the Ravenclaw table for every meal, except the three feasts; and that it is, in fact, a breach of the school rules for anyone to tell them otherwise.
"Secondly, if you had bothered to open a book on the subject of life debts, as a true Ravenclaw would have done first, you would have learned that Miss Delacour is expected to sit with Lord Potter and that no one may interfere in that. It is the law, let alone also being a school rule.
"Thirdly, it is Lord Potter; not Potter. He is entitled to the address and you will use it when addressing him or referring to him. Right now, Lord Potter is fully within his right to hex you into next week. And there is nothing I, or the rest of the staff, can do to prevent him from doing that other than ask him not to. Only after he has finished punishing you can medi-wizard Robinson step in and set you to rights, if he can.
"Fourthly; yes, you are no longer a Prefect. As Lord Potter incanted you are clearly too stupid to hold the position. I'll have to see if I can appoint another.
"Now, return to your breakfast and do not bother Lord Potter or his bonded again."
Davies stood there, at first, angry. However, as Professor Sinistra laid out what he'd done wrong, his anger abated and he became embarrassed. When she finally sent him on his way, he muttered, "Sorry, Professor." Turned tail and hurried away, back to his seat.
The Professor then turned to Harry and said in a clear voice, "Thank you, Lord Potter; for not just dealing with the idiot as you could have done. Five points to Gryffindor." Then she spun to stare at Davies, who had managed to get back to his seat and hunch over, "And ten points from Ravenclaw for your un-Ravenclaw behaviour, Mister Davies."
Then she spun away and walked back to her over-sized mug of black coffee she often sipped from each morning.
Harry had to give her credit for turning up for each and every breakfast, considering she was the Astronomy Professor and her classes went on late into the early hours of the morning. Harry guessed she'd sleep between breakfast and lunch, but not if she was drinking so much coffee.
Relaxing with a sigh, he took up his cutlery again and returned to his breakfast. As he did, Fleur gave him a nudge and smiled at him.
"He was one of the boys whom my allure turned into a dribbling idiot," she softly said.
"Not possible," he returned. "I'll give you the dribbling, but he was already an idiot."
She gave a light laugh back.
When the mail owls entered Harry was one of the first to receive the Daily Prophet. Hedwig delivered his.
Before he even opened it up, he could see the lead story was the 'discovery' of Fleur's life debt to Harry.
Reading through it, with Fleur leaning over his shoulder and also reading it, Harry could see Ted Tonks's hand in it. It was a near perfect copy of the press release Ted had HEEDed to Harry, with only a few additions.
Clearly, Ted had been in and dealt with the idiot Skeeter woman. He could no longer see her byline, or even a byline that had any anagram of her name including 'Kate Erister', her latest. He'd forgotten 'Teaske' had been outed, fined and, a short while later, fired.
The article again included the wizarding photograph of Harry rescuing Fleur from the lake, but included another of him helping in saving her on the stage and a third as he whisked the canvas flap of the tent aside as medi-wizard Robinson carried her into the tent and Harry following close behind. It was from that photo he saw when the auror was first stationed outside the tent. It was within two seconds of him following Robinson inside.
"Well, it's a fair article," he said. "It includes the truth and only lightly embellishes. Even then, it clearly states how that embellishment is guesswork with 'We believe...' and 'It appears...' used to show it isn't purported as straight fact."
"The Daily Prophet are afraid of you, aren't they?" asked Fleur, in a manner which suggested she knew it to be the truth.
He smirked and replied, "They're afraid of my Law-wizard of Record, Ted Tonks. He's very good at threatening Barnabus Cuffe, the current Editor, to get him to toe the line and not print lies and fabrications about me."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Because Fleur did not yet have her tutors at the school, she decided to join Harry for his classes that day. So, directly after breakfast, she joined him and the other Heirs, except for Daphne and Tracey, in the walk out to the greenhouses.
When she asked if she could join the class as an observer, Professor Sprout had no problem with it.
Neither did Professor Senkinhall in CoMC, Professor and Deputy Headmaster Goodstone in History of Magic after morning tea, or Professor Claystock in Muggle Studies before lunch.
For lunch the Heirs all sat at the Hufflepuff table. Then the Potters, now including Fleur, went to the Ancient Runes double period. Again, Fleur was not refused attending.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
That evening, after dinner, Harry sat his three ladies down and had a firm talking-to with them all.
He spoke to them about how they, Hermione and Daphne, had manipulated him into that bonding ritual with Fleur and how he really did not appreciate it.
"Yes, I know it was important," said Harry. "However, you led me to believe it was just a tradition... simple ceremony... and something Fleur wanted. That was a misdirection. That was very unfair of you pair.
"I thought I had made it very clear in the past how much I despised Albus Dumbledore for his manipulations and how I was very much relieved he could never try that again. And, now, you two have been doing it.
"Stop it!"
Both girls didn't argue as they'd done precisely that. Instead, Hermione said, "Sorry, Harry. But, I thought there was a slight risk you might have refused."
"And, is that not my choice?" he pressed. "Dumbledore kept taking away my choices because of his much self-vaunted greater good. Is that going to be your excuse; we did it because it was for the greater good?"
That had both girls wince.
"Have faith in me," he snapped. "I'm not an idiot. If it was explained to me in a logical fashion, I would have gone through with it. Haven't I already stated I was not prepared to let Fleur die?"
"Sorry Harry," both girls returned.
"And I apologise for not ensuring Hermione and Daphne told you," said Fleur. "I should have."
"No, you didn't know," he sighed.
"Anyways," he said. "What's done is done and I will not belabour the point. Just know you upset me doing that."
Both girls nodded.
"Well, moving on," he said. "What's happening with the rest of our family? How are your parents coping with discovering I have a second concubine? I felt Wendell and Monica were holding back out of politeness on Saturday."
"They're fine with it, actually," replied Hermione, grateful for the change of topic. "And that actually surprises me. I was actually worried something was wrong and they were being very good at covering it up, but they weren't."
He gave a nod and turned to Daphne. "And what about Astoria and your parents, Daphne?"
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