Hermione seemed to burst with questions, but she managed to keep her mouth shut, not without a big effort.
"Veela have some magic which is special to them. You all know about the Veela Allure, so it seems. A Veela life debt is also different. It turns the Veela in debt into a property of the one she's indebted to."
Hermione could no longer hold herself. "That's not right!" she exclaimed.
Alain looked at her understandingly. "It's quite wrong from many aspects, yet that's the way Veela magic works. Fleur is now Harry's property, for him to use any way he wants, and her natural way is to become his sex toy. The only way out of it is if either of them dies."
Hermione looked at Fleur with some tears in her eyes. "That's awful!"
It was Fleur's time to speak. "Not so awful as it could have been. Harry didn't accept this kind of relationship. He said that we should be equal, and if I need to mate with him, than he only wanted it as equals, as his wife."
Hermione gasped again, fighting the tears that were threatening to choke her. It was Harry who pressed her hand tightly now, as if reassuring her of her position at his side. She was thinking quickly.
"Well I also have a life debt to Harry. He saved me from a mountain troll during our first year, putting himself in mortal peril for that, jumping on the troll's back."
All Delacours were looking at Harry with some new respect.
"And last year he saved me from Dementors, using the brightest patronus I've ever seen," Hermione continued. At the back of her mind she also had the Basilisk, but she preferred not to mention it. That could drag Ginny in as well.
Alain spoke again. "Those incidents may surely create life debts, but as you're not a Veela, these are different. Are you a Veela, dear?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Still, that may explain why you two feel so close to each other," Alain said. He now turned to his daughter. "Did Lord Potter propose to you?"
"No, Papa, he just said that he would not accept me as his slave, but would accept me as equal, as his wife. We were then blinded by a flash of light and we had wedding bands appearing on our fingers."
They all looked at her hands and Harry's. No rings could be seen. She concentrated for a moment, making the ring visible. "Harry?" she urged him. His ring became visible a second later.
Alain looked pensive, while Hermione was trying to hold back her tears again. She was surprised to see Fleur grabbing her free hand and pressing it reassuringly.
Alain sighed. "Well... This really changes the situation. It's a much better fate for you, dear, but it also brings in some complications."
He now looked at Hermione and at Harry. "I believe it's safe to assume that none of you had mentioned any long-term plans for you as a couple. You're too young to think about such plans in any realistic terms. Have any of you thought about the possibility of marrying the other some time in the future?"
Hermione nodded, blushing deeply. Harry looked confused at first. "I only thought that Hermione could be a very good mother and thought how our children could look if I ever married her."
"What do you think now?" Alain insisted.
"I'm married already, am I not?" he said, somewhat bitterly.
Alain saw the defeated expression on Hermione's face and smiled at her, trying to cheer her up. "Well, wizards have different laws than Muggles, you know. A wizard who is a head of house can legally have more than one wife. It is even customary in some circles to have a few concubines as well. Still, as Fleur is bonded to you by her life debt, she is the lowest ranked wife, in case you have any more."
Harry looked overwhelmed. Hermione didn't look much better. Apolline whispered something in Alain's ear and he smiled at her. She then walked to the door, opened it and called, "Josephine!"
A female house elf appeared immediately. Apolline gave her some orders in French and sat back down. The elf returned a moment later, laying a large tray with drinks and refreshments on the table.
"I think we may all benefit from a short break. The washrooms are at the end of the corridor to the left, if anybody needs them," Alain said.
All women seemed to need those washrooms, leaving Alain and Harry alone for a few minutes.
"You're very fond of Hermione," Alain noted.
"She's my best friend. I like her a lot. She's smart and beautiful, although she doesn't think she is, and she's extremely loyal."
"I believe you'll find Fleur to be smart and loyal. You already know how beautiful she is. She could be enough for you, you know."
Harry frowned. "Nobody can replace Hermione in my life. Fleur can only supplement her."
"Will you marry Hermione if you can?"
Harry squirmed in his seat. "I had no plan for that yet. With my luck, I can't even plan short term. Had anybody told me yesterday that I would be a married man this morning, I would have thought them crazy..."
Alain smiled. "Some muggles say that men plan and God plans differently. Still, have you ever thought seriously about a future with some girl or woman?"
"No... I don't know... Well... I was thinking of Hermione mostly, but I've also thought about other girls occasionally. She wasn't even my date at the Yule ball."
"Didn't you want her to be?"
"Well... I... didn't really think. It just seemed natural that she would come with me, but then she had somebody else ask her..."
Alain smiled. He was sure that Fleur had the right assessment of the situation, but Harry was not yet ready to acknowledge his feelings. He had to remind himself that Harry was not yet fifteen, way too young to even consider marriage. Yet with his luck...
Harry was surprised when two owls came through the open window, landing on the table in front of him. He took the letters and both owls left promptly.
"Go on! Open them!" Alain encouraged him. Harry opened reluctantly. The first was a letter from the Ministry.
"Dear Lord Potter,
We're glad to be the first to congratulate you for your marriage bond with Mrs. Fleur Potter, née Delacour, recorded today at 0723 GMT.
This bond also makes you legally adult, with all the rights and obligation of adult wizards and witches.
The registrar of marriages and bonds."
"Why don't they address Fleur as well?" he asked.
"Probably because of her life debt. Some may even consider it wrong, that you married her instead of just using what you've been offered," Alain explained, making Harry frown even deeper.
The other letter was from Gringotts.
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,
We at Gringotts congratulate you for your marriage bond and urge you to come and claim your lordship and your position as Head of House at your earliest convenience.
Your account manager, Sharpclaw,
and the whole Gringotts staff."
Harry folded both letters and put them in his pocket.
Hermione was the first to return. She sat back at Harry's side, grabbing his hand possessively. Gabrielle came next. She stopped in front of Harry. "Will you consider taking me as well, once I'm old enough," she asked, fluttering her eyes.
Harry was a surprised and a bit amused by her antics, yet he answered as honestly as he could. "I've never really thought about marrying until today, and I'm still unsure about the meaning of all this. I'm sure that you'll grow up to be just as beautiful and as attractive as your sister. By then, you may find somebody you like better."
Gabi didn't seem to like his answer, yet she delighted in the compliment. She smiled at Harry and moved to sit beside her father.
Hermione turned to Harry, looking in his eyes. It was as if she was asking him, 'Will you take me as your wife when we're old enough?'
He looked back into her chocolate-brown eyes, making her sense his answer, 'I'll take you as soon as we're both ready.'
Alain was watching them silently. He was sure they were conversing even though he couldn't understand what they were saying to each other. All he saw was love and understanding beyond what most couples have.
Apolline and Fleur returned last, chatting in quick French and smiling happily. They each sat near her husband. Fleur took Harry's hand in hers almost as possessively as Hermione.
"I think we should discuss the near future first," Alain said.
"I want to keep our new relationship secret for as long as possible," Harry said immediately.
"And why is that?"
"Voldemort is back. Anybody close to me is in great danger, as he wants me dead and would stop at nothing to reach his goals."
Alain smiled, making Harry and Hermione tense. "Let me tell you a bit about what happened last night AFTER you returned..."
Mr. Delacour stood with the other dignitaries, hearing that Voldemort was back and who his followers were. By that time, he already knew of Fleur's life debt and had even managed to discreetly find out some more information about Harry. He knew Harry was telling the truth and he knew that time was of essence. Luckily, he had brought a group of well-trained French aurors to keep an eye on the tournament, knowing that some weird stuff was happening, although he didn't know the details. He now summoned the aurors. One of them was a specialist in port-keys. He checked the goblet which was still lying on the ground, finding the coordinates from which it arrived and made another portkey for the aurors. The whole group used it to reach a place, a short distance away from that point, finding Voldemort still preaching to his loyal Death Eaters, who were standing in a circle around him.
The French aurors first raised an anti-apparition ward and a containment ward, making sure that none of the terrorists, as they called the Death Eaters, would have a chance to escape. All his aurors were also proficient with muggle weapons, carrying a silenced sniper's rifle each, allowing them to stay out of reach of spell-fire. Alain set them the targets, making sure three of his men would first aim at Voldemort. It was then just target shooting. Voldemort fell first, his head pierced by three bullets. The other Death Eaters were too confused to react before six more were dead. Even when they tried to find their attackers, they were unable to see them and the aurors had no intention of waiting. Two minutes after the first shot, none of Voldemort's inner circle was alive. They then noticed a large snake approaching. Two bullets took care of it. One of the aurors was attentive enough to notice and understand the meaning of the green-black cloud that came out of the snake's corpse and vanished with a scream. Alain made sure to put the matter under secret investigation.
"...So, you don't seem to need to worry too much about Voldemort. Even if he succeeds to come back, it will take him many years and those supporters who didn't die tonight will be too old to help him by then."
Harry smiled brightly at hearing this story. "Does anybody else know?" Hermione asked.
Alain shook his head. "Your minister didn't want to believe anything that he didn't like and your Headmaster would have said we were no better than those monsters, as we gave them no chance to redeem themselves. I've only sent a few anonymous letters to some of the newspapers, both in Britain and in France, telling them to check the cemetery at Little Hangelton for an interesting story."
"What about Pettigrew?" Harry now asked.
"Who is he?"
"The small, bald Death Eater who helped Voldemort with the ritual. He is the one who betrayed my parents."
"Oh, I believe I've seen his corpse there. I'm sure you'll find all the details in tomorrow's newspaper."
"Well, that can help Sirius get justice."
"Mr. Black? Yes, that will help him, I'm sure."
As the conversation continued, Alain proved to be very good at extracting information from people. Without meaning it, Harry was telling about his childhood with the Dursleys and all that happened to him since he was old enough to remember. Hermione gasped a lot, hearing about the hardships that her friend had experienced since being a small child. Some of the stories brought tears even to Alain's eyes, yet Harry didn't feel as if he was interrogated. The two girls at his sides gave him ample support, along with hugs and kisses when his stories were too sad, and even Apolline and Gabi gave him a few hugs. When he finally finished, Harry felt both ashamed of disclosing his past torments and relieved not having to keep them a secret any longer.
"I think I should tell you a bit about your position, as I understand nobody has done it," Alain said, once Harry finished. He then went into a brief description of Potter recent history, the position of the Potter family in magical society and the main things Harry needed to know at the moment. "There's much more for you to learn, but I think that should be enough for now. You already seem overwhelmed with the events. I don't think it's right to burden you with more information right now."
Harry smiled tiredly. "I'd really like to know much more, but I think I need some time to digest all that we've discussed until now before I'm ready for more."