"I was a lonely child," Apolline said.
She lifted her hand and spread her fingers, gazing between them at the stars. "You are not going to exclaim that you do not believe me?"
"In my experience, most girls with veela blood are that way," Harry said.
"You 'ave met many of us?" Apolline was amused. "I was under ze impression zat we were rare."
"Only a couple," Harry said. "I think three is enough to make a judgement."
Two of them were Apolline's daughters, and the third was her granddaughter. Harry had seen it most clearly with young Victoire Weasley. Bill and Fleur's child had a natural magnetism as soon as she entered puberty, pulling boys toward her and alienating the girls around her. Lust and jealousy were powerful emotions.
"You are right, for ze record," Apolline said. "Eet eez common in girls like me. Some find a strong group of friends who can resist such urgees, but I was never so lucky. Eet did not help zat I was 'alf. My veela side eez quite potent. With a snap of ze fingers, I can break almost any man."
She glanced at Harry, only for a second, before returning her eyes to the stars.
"I could never find eet." Her voice was sad. "Zose zat could see me for me, and brush aside ze effects of my 'eritage."
"I'm sorry," Harry said.
Apolline said something in French. "You of all people," she said, "'ave nuzzing zat you should be apologizing to me for! Eets just 'ow zings went. I 'ave come to terms with eet a long time ago."
Apolline tucked the fingers on her raised hand against her palm, one at a time. The last one up was her ring finger. Harry couldn't help noticing that she left it bare.
"When I was seventeen my muzzer convinced me to date. She insisted zat I was 'missing out'. I could 'ave 'ad any boy, even ze ones who were older zan I. Naturally, I picked ze 'andsomest one… and eventually 'e became ze father of my children."
"Eet started very well. 'E could resist my allure better zen any man I 'ad ever met. 'E was convinced zat I was ze best thing zat at ever 'appened to him. A good family, skill on ze Quiddeetch pitch, magical abileety, and now ze prettiest girl in ze school on 'is arm. For 'im, eet was ze perfect life."
"You didn't agree?" Harry asked softly.
"At ze time I was 'appy. Dating was much better zan I expected. Soon we left ze school, 'e joined ze Ministry, and I followed 'im. I became a diplomat while 'e worked 'is way through ze ranks at ze pace of lightning. Ze two of us became quiet well known. Even when Fleur, my dearest flower, was born, I was 'appy with my life."
"I left my job at zat time. Ze child would need ze care of 'er muzzer, and I did not shirk zat. Eventually we welcomed Gabrielle. And throughout eet all, ze clock continued to tick. Time… does not stop for anything, no matter how much you wish otherwise."
As she told the story, Apolline's tone matched her words. When she began, speaking of a distant past that she missed, her voice had been light and casual. Now her voice lowered, and a slight pause occurred before each word.
"My 'usband eez a proud man. 'E believed zat 'e 'ad earned everything with 'is own skills— 'is job was a result of 'is power, 'is popularity with others was because of 'is smarts, and me 'e 'ad won over with 'is looks. 'E could not see zat what I loved about him was 'ow he could speak to me like an 'uman being, not how sharp 'is jaw was or ze shape of his cheekbones."
Apolline paused. Harry tried to pat her hand, to encourage her, only for her to grab it. He didn't have it in him to pull it away.
"What did he do?" Harry asked.
Apolline smiled sadly. "'E cheated on me."
"On you?!"
She laughed. "Zat eez everyone's reaction! I believe 'e was afraid. 'E thought zat 'e was no longer worzzy of me because 'is 'air was a few centimeters further back, and 'is cheeks now 'ad wrinkles when he smiled. Though 'e rarely smiled by zat point. Eet was a girl from 'is department, recently graduated and full of ze beauty of youth zat he was so scared to 'ave lost."
Apolline laughed. Although it started slowly, it grew to the point that it disrupted her story. Harry could see her trying to get it under control. He squeezed her hand.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Non!" Apolline said, turning her head to look at him. "I want to talk to you! I want… I want you."
She leaned in, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. Harry, who spurned her use of his shoulder as a pillow the night before, didn't rebuke her this time.
Even with Harry's magic warming the area the night was slightly chilly. Apolline's warmth cut through it like a knife. Her tongue meshed with Harry's, her lips pressing into his own. The soft feeling of her mouth's embrace was like a blanket. Apolline rolled onto her side and he did the same, meeting her on even ground. Her hand caressed his cheek.
When they parted for air, Apolline's blue eyes were alight with life.
"Ze last few days 'ave been incredeeble," she said. "Maxime eez safe, so I do not 'ave to feel guilty about 'ow much I 'ave enjoyed zis. For ze first time in years, I 'ave experienced new zings and witnessed sights I could scarcely imagine. I 'ave you to zank for eet."
Apolline's hand moved from Harry's cheek to his shoulder. She gave him a gentle push, rolling him onto his back, and swung her hips over him. Straddling him, she stroked his shirt with her fingers.
"For years I 'ave been a trophy zat someone else 'as been scared will get dirty. Soon, zat eez what I will be again. So before I go back to zat life… let me live a leetle."
Before she could kiss him again, Harry jerked his hips. Apolline fell sideways, landing on top of a smooth bear pelt. Harry was above her before she could react.
"What—?" Apolline exclaimed.
"If you're going to live for a night," Harry said, unbuttoning his collar while gazing down at her, "then we're not going to accept any half-measures."
He got the last button loosened and snapped his fingers. Apolline gasped.
Her clothes disassembled— every single thread unwound from the others, sliding off of her body and forming a blanket behind her. Apolline's immense bust was contained by a blue bra the color of Beauxbatons robes. Her panties matched, hooked over the wide hips just below her narrow waist. Harry put two fingers to the bottom of the bulging arc in her panties, sliding them up the lips of Apolline's pussy. She moaned and arched her back, thrashing her arms. When Harry's fingers slid off of her lips, he kept raising them until they pointed at the night sky. Apolline's panties followed their direction, lifting her legs and sliding off, floating into the air.
"'Ow can you do such zings?" Apolline gasped.
"When it's for the sake of a beautiful woman, mysterious powers flood into me."
"Zat was so cheesy!"
"Damn. I thought it was a little smooth," Harry said. "I guess I'll have to turn my tongue to other talents."
He pulled off his loosened shirt, going topless. Apolline's eyes darted over the definition lines between his muscles. Harry sank between her legs, staring her in the eyes as he planted a kiss right on straight on her quim.
Apolline took a deep breath. She was very excited, and the feeling of Harry's hot breath on her pussy was making her ache with anticipation. Her legs settled over his shoulders, running down his back. Harry kissed her pussy three more times, adding a little bit of force each time. He still had two fingers extended — the pointer and middle — from the trick that removed her panties. Harry stuck them forward, digging them into Apolline's hole.
"Ohh, great Merlin immersed in magic, take mercy upon meee!" Apolline moaned. "Eets too much!"
Despite her words, her legs squeezed the back of Harry's head, forcing it to stay. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop. While his fingers plunged into her, digging against her folds, his tongue pushed between her pussy lips and found her clit. He gave the bean a flick.
"Ghhnnnngah!" Apolline exclaimed.
Her insides shuddered. They got wetter— not quite an orgasm, but something close to it. She was quaking against his fingers. Harry ran his tongue in a circle around her clit, rubbing against it before he targeted it directly. When his tongue gave the bean another flick, Apolline's second reaction was even more dramatic than the first had been.
"You move in such… unexpected ways…" she gasped.
Harry wiggled his tongue, making her shiver one more time before drawing it back into his mouth. When his tongue left Apolline's body, he plunged his fingers into faster and harder to make up for the lack.
"When I find myself in a situation like this one, it would be wrong of me not to give it my all."
"And what situation eez zat?"
"Wedged between the legs of the most beautiful woman I've ever met."
It wasn't idle flattery. Harry had met part-veelas before, but Apolline was just extra. Her breasts were marginally larger, her thighs a tad thicker, her waist slightly slimmer, and her aura was just more. Maybe it was because she was half, instead of a quarter or an eighth. Or maybe Apolline was just that much woman, born this way for reasons nothing to do with the amount of magic blood in her. When his compliment reached her ears, Apolline shook hard enough that her bra-clad breasts trembled.
"What eez wrong with me?" She laughed— it carried a raspy quality from her pleasured gasping. "So many men 'ave called me zat, I 'ave lost count… So why when you say eet, does eet not feel like flattery?"
"Maybe I have an honest face?"
Apolline's legs squeezed down, forcing Harry's face to bury in her crotch again.
"Cheeky man," she said adoringly.
Harry's tongue sought out her clit again, but he didn't slow his fingers to their previous speed. They plunged into Apolline with speed only a hand could produce. Harry bent his fingers each time they were inside of her, hooking them down or bending them up. Everywhere they touched inside Apolline left her moaning.
His tongue was almost as fast. He rubbed her clit from every angle at varying tempos. Her legs were his sign of what she liked best. He memorized which moves made her squeeze him harder, and which lessened the grip of her calves against his scalp. Soon he was touching only her favorite places. Apolline's stomach lifted as her lower back rose.
"Ohh, 'Arry eet eez too much!"
Her eyelids fluttered. She grabbed one of her breasts, groping herself through her bra. Her breathing stuttered. Something was coming. Harry's tongue tasted something sweet.
He dragged his fingers out just before Apolline's crotch exploded. Her body tensed as she squirted with all her might, emitting a howling moan. Her legs relaxed, allowing Harry to sit up again. His chin and the lower third of his face was shining in the moonlight, dripping with fluid. He licked around his lips. "Not bad."
"Stop zat," Apolline said tiredly. "Eets embarrassing."
"What I meant is that it tastes divine. Absolutely delectable. Like the sweetest sunday you've ever tasted."
"Stooop!" She hit his thigh moderately hard with the bottom of her heel. Harry chuckled.
"Fine."
He reached across his body, grabbing her left hip with his right hand and flipping her over. Apolline got her knees underneath her and started to rise, but Harry put his hands on her back, keeping her head down.
"'Ey!" Apolline said.
"Just relax," Harry said. "Allow me to handle the rest."
Her arse was enormous, its shape perfect. Harry moved his hands along Apolline's deceptively slender back, undoing the latch of her bra. He pulled it away from her chest and cast it aside. Apolline's breasts pooled underneath her chest, slightly flattened against the ground.
"Zis eez demeaning," Apolline muttered.
Harry took his hands off her to strip out of his pants, and despite her words Apolline waited obediently.
"You haven't tried this position before?" Harry asked as he undid his zipper, standing up briefly to kick off his pants.
"I was always on top. My 'usband was scared zat 'e would go too fast and upset me. 'E was always very frightened I would leave."
So he went and pushed her away by cheating. Fear really was one hell of a drug.
Finally in a matching state of undress, Harry knelt behind Apolline. He rubbed his stiff member on her entrance, slickening its underside with the same juices that were on his lower face.
"Just 'ow big…?" Apolline said with trepidation as the shape of him grinded against her body.
She tried to look back to glimpse his manhood, but Harry hid it by plunging it inside of her pussy. With Apolline's head turned, Harry was able to watch her face twist with pleasure.
He gave her rhythmic, forceful thrust, opening her pussy up on the inside. He felt it stretching. She was tight, and his large size only made her feel tighter.
"Beeg!" Apolline gasped. "Eets so beeeeeg!"
Harry's crotch cracked against her, smacking sounds emanating into the night. There was something thrilling about doing it outside even with relative privacy. Sparse giant roars reminded them of where they were. It was entirely possible that the celebrating giants were engaged in the same act as he and Apolline.
Feeling excited, Harry lifted his hand and brought it down on Apolline's raised arse.
Smack!
The ripples were a thing of beauty. Her cheeks shook like the surface of a disturbed pond, a red mark forming beneath his hand.
Apolline gasped. "You just heet me!"
Smack!
"That's right." Harry left a second hand print on her delectable arse. "Some butts deserve to be slapped."
"My 'usband 'as never—"
"He's not here right now, is he? If the burden falls to me, so be it."
Smack!
Apolline gasped, scandalized, each time that he spanked her rear, but her body was much more honest. It simply reacted. By the time Harry spanked her a fourth time, her pussy had tightened and climaxed, forcing a moan out of Apolline. Harry was nowhere near done.
He grabbed her platinum blond hair as it glittered in the moonlight. Harry pulled it hard enough to sting Apolline's scalp, dragging her head up.
"How dare you," Apolline purred, singing the words like praise.
"You asked me to give you a special night." Harry pulled her head back by her hair, bending to speak in her ear. "The least I can do is fuck you properly."
"Mmmmm," Apolline moaned.
After her initial shock, she was adjusting quickly to the manhandling. She smiled, her eyes lidded, as Harry held her hair like a leash. His thrusts got faster, shaking her arse with its collection of fresh handprints. Harry reached his other hand around her face, placing it on Apolline's cheek. His middle finger stuck between her lips— which she puckered, sucking on the appendage.
Her moans sounded quiet, gagged the hand he'd placed over her mouth. The wind brushed their nude bodies, lessened but not blocked by Harry's warming magic. Apolline's large breasts bounced wildly under her body as Harry's pounding jolted her.
She had never been fucked this way. Her only experience was with her husband, a man who had been terrified of doing anything that could possibly upset her. He let Apolline stay on top in bed, never crossed any lines, and ultimately feared losing her so much that he abandoned her first. Even if it was just once, Apolline was in desperate need of a ravishing.
Harry gave her hair one sharper tug, pulling her up straight on her knees. With her back pressed to his chest and his cock still inside her, Harry put his arm around her neck, nestling her chin in the crook of his arm.
"Mon dieu!" Apolline gasped.
Harry didn't have room for full thrusts, but he pulled back as far as he could, rapidly pulling halfway out of Apolline and plowing back into her depths. The hand that had been in her mouth grabbed her breasts, squeezing them sufficiently hard to leave handprints. His hand forcibly claimed her breasts, pinching her nipples one second and groping her flesh the next. Harry leaned his head forward, finding Apolline's lips and kissing them. She responded, sloppily returning his tongue's affection.
Her pussy was tighter than ever. She'd already climaxed at least once, likely more. Harry could feel her sopping folds twitching. His lower stomach collided with her arse, reigniting the stinging from his slaps. Apolline moaned, and through their kiss Harry could feel it vibrating his teeth.
They were rapidly approaching a crescendo. Their kiss halted as both of them panted too hard to continue it. Apolline's could not get wetter or warmer. Harry fought his aching muscles to keep his frantic pace steady. Even though they weren't kissing their lips remained just an inch apart, feeling the other's warm exhalations.
Harry gave another thrust like any other. It pushed Apolline over the edge. She orgasmed frighteningly hard, moaning loudly while her body twitched and contracted against Harry's manhood. He couldn't handle it. When he pulled his hips back, he did so far enough for his tip to exit her body. A second later his cum hit her back.
Their bodies separated. Apolline's weight naturally fell forward, though she caught herself by extending her arms, hunched forward on her knees as pleasure coursed through her body. Harry's cum had hit her pale back, shining very softly in the starlight. Silvery streaks ran down Apolline's back and disappeared into the canyon between her hand-print-marked cheeks.
"I'm dirty," Harry said, gazing down at his member. "Clean me up."
Apolline shivered at the casual authority in his voice. Harry had wondered a few times if he was taking things too far, but each time he thought it Apolline's eager response gave him his answer. This time, she lowered herself completely onto all-fours and reoriented, turning her head toward him and taking him in her mouth.
She pushed her lips down Harry until she got to his base— a feat many women could only dream of, but veela were different. Such skills were basically a birthright to them. Apolline bobbed her head along him, popping her lips off now and again to lick him, doing her utmost to clean away his cum and the juices her body had left. Harry put his weight forward, reaching out to stroke and pet her arse, caressing the soft pale-and-red skin.
Apolline cleaned him without complaint until he came again— and when he did, she took every last morsel in her mouth, swallowing it to hide all evidence.
O-O-O
It was a true challenge forcing himself to get up while it was still dark out. Harry cleaned himself with magic and donned his clothes, collecting the bag he'd brought on the trip. When robbed of his presence at her side, Apolline reached out in her sleep, grumbling unhappily. Harry conjured a pillow for her to cuddle and intensified the warming charms before striking out.
The mountains here possessed a rugged beauty born out of remoteness. There were better sights in Europe to be sure, but there weren't many places that were so untamed. Harry walked to the water's edge, tapping his wand on his glasses to magnify his vision. Picking out a spot on the opposite shore from the giant's village, he Apparated across the distance.
Harry repeated this process twice more, climbing about a third of the way up one of the surrounding peaks. Giants were sensitive to magic, and the kind he was about to use was as pungent as magic got.
He opened a hidden pocket on his pants that had stayed shut since this trip began. A small pouch lay inside, and inside of that was a sliver of the Dark Lord's soul.
Harry flicked the pouch onto the ground where it landed amongst rocky soil.
For a moment, Harry paused. He breathed in deeply and smelled the forest. He had to enjoy it now. Every natural scent was soon to be obliterated.
"That's enough putting it off."
Harry lifted his wand, aiming it at the pouch. The Horcrux could tell something was about to happen. The bag thrashed like a small mouse was stuck inside, even though the only content was a seemingly-inanimate ring.
"Pestis Incendium," Harry intoned.
Something erupted throughout his arm. His magic itself turned hot, boiling like water atop a stove. Flames of pure magic shot from the tip of his wand. Harry gritted his teeth and grabbed his wrist with his left hand, holding it steady. A scream pierced the air, coming from the bag.
It was distinctly Voldemort's voice, but warped and weakened. The ring itself wasn't generating the sound. Rather, as Voldemort's soul fragment was being incinerated, it was exerting an influence on the real world in a desperate last bid.
"You! I can save you!" it hissed in Harry's head. "Your fate is lonely. I'll reunite you with those you've lost. You miss them, don't you? Everyone can be yours again. Just put me on!"
The voice wasn't human. It sounded close to him and far away at the same time. Fire continued to pour from Harry's wand. The rocks in the area were catching fire, burning like wood in a furnace.
"Put me on! Stop the fire! Put me on! Stop the fire! PUT ME ON. STOP THE FIREEEEEEEE—"
The screeching stopped. Either the fragment had lost its form or the flames had become too loud. It was all Harry could hear now; all he could smell. Crackling flames; billowing smoke. The fire in the surrounding area was morphing, adopting the shape of wolves and hawks and other predators. They circled Harry on the ground and in the air.
This was why he hated Fiendfyre. The flames were raw magic, and they fed off of the caster to grant themselves malicious life. The more powerful the wizard using the spell, the deadlier the results. To his knowledge Dumbledore never touched the spell, but Voldemort had a handful of times throughout the war. Only the Dark Lord's utterly irredeemable nature kept him safe. Fire that desired only to hurt and scald could relate to him, choosing to prey on his enemies in his stead.
Harry wasn't so lucky. The fire he summoned, granted varied shapes, looked for any weakness it could exploit against him. There were at least fifty fiery animals now. This had gone on as long as it could— he had to hope the Horcrux was destroyed and end it here. Otherwise he'd be destroyed just like the Horcrux.
Fiendfyre had exactly one weakness. A countercurse designed to dispel flames that could even burn water. Harry ended the stream of fire out of his wand. As one, the creations he'd spawned charged him.
They came from every angle. If he was ending the spell, they knew he was going to target them next. He had never been able to discover if the flames were intelligent, but he knew they at least held animalistic self-preservation urges. They came at him intent to leave only dust behind.
Harry dragged his wand straight down. Intense wind blasted outward from his body, scattering the flames. The fiery animals briefly lost shape, quickly reforming. The wind fanned them, spreading them out and spawning new members of the herd. But it bought Harry the time he needed.
One by one, ten by ten, Harry picked them off with the countercurse. Each animal that was struck evaporated into a whiff of smoke, and Harry didn't miss. The last one, a hawk larger than the rest like some kind of malevolent phoenix, aimed its fiery talons at his face. From a foot away the heat was so intense that Harry's skin started to blister. It got no closer. His countercurse hit it, and the last of the Fiendfyre disappeared in a flashy burst.
Harry released a deep sigh, alone with the scent of charged earth. It was a good thing he didn't try that anywhere near Hogwarts. Even if the flames didn't spread, there was no way others wouldn't sense a bout of dark magic that intense.
He approached the spot where the ring had been. Nothing remained of the bag or the metal band it contained. They had been consumed by the fire, reduced to less than dust. Harry stooped and slid his hand over the ground. When he straightened, he was holding a small black stone. Despite everything it went through the stone was cold to the touch.
His fingers closed over the item. He stowed it in his pocket, not even pondering making use of it for a second. Finally, Harry looked across the lake far below, turning his eyes westward.
Voldemort would have felt that. The Dark Lord wouldn't know who, where, or how, but he would be aware that one of his 'untouchable' treasures had been eliminated. There was no way to hide such a feeling, and frankly Harry was fine with that.
"I'm coming for you," he said. "And this time, I won't just be running away."
He descended the mountain, heading back to the giant village. If he got back fast enough, Apolline might not even realize he had left.
It was time to head home.