Hey, Happy Christmas to all and for everyone that doesn't celebrate it, happy holidays! Enjoy the chapter! =3
Chapter 62
The Lake
Classes, like always, were a breeze for Harri. She did her work quickly and efficiently. Since she had time to herself, she found herself sitting in front of the Great Lake more often than not. Sometimes she would be reading about Runes that would help her communicate with her family back home, other times she would be sitting with George leaning against a tree just acting like love sick teenagers. There were even a few times where she caught Sirius running around as Padfoot with James and Remus throwing sticks for him to fetch.
Lily still wasn’t talking to her, though she was getting used to her. Harri figured it would take awhile for Lily to forgive her. A few times during Ancient Runes Lily had struck up a civil conversation, so they were getting somewhere.
Harri enjoyed the calm atmosphere, she knew that it wouldn’t last long, it was her life after all. So, on a breezy Tuesday Harri was sitting against a tree reading about a complex rune that might help her get back home. She hadn’t really been paying attention to her surroundings, she was twirling her wand absentmindedly in her hand.
Her lips were pursed slightly, as she tried to replicate the rune’s components, but found that three were ridiculously complex. She ended up slamming the book she had been using shut and throwing all her papers in the air in frustration. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and sighed.
“Something the matter?” a voice asked from behind her. Harri jumped, wand at the ready, it was James. She held a hand over her heart in surprise, but lowered her wand. She noticed that he looked worried and was shifting from foot to foot. Harri motioned for him to take a seat next to her.
“I’m trying to figure out a rune. Nothing that you have to worry about,” she said with a dismissing tone. James muttered something incoherent and ran a hand through his hair.
“Now it’s my turn to ask, is something up?” Harri questioned and James nodded, not meeting her eyes.
“My mate wants nothing to do with me...she can barely stand the sight of me. What am I going to do? It’s so hard not to be depressed all the time and Padfoot and Moony wouldn’t understand, they just think that I’m love sick or something,” he replied resting his head on his knees.
“Well, I turned to books for a lot of answers at first and then to my friends and family, but I feel like you don’t have that option...” Harri said quietly and James shook his head.
“My parents are lovely, but they don’t even know about this. Men aren’t generally supposed to be Veela. I did a little bit of research and found out that the French Veela usually are only female, but the British ones can be both. I wish my mum had told me about this...” he muttered.
“If it makes you feel any better, I had no idea about my inheritance till I took a test...but I really doubt that the lack of knowledge is the real problem here. The real issue here is Lily,” Harri guessed and James nodded and smiled at the thought of her mother.
Harri smiled gently, realizing how much her father loved her mother. James blinked a few times and stared at her curiously, but then shook his head. “Yea, Lily hates me. She’s my mate and she hates me!”
Harri chuckled. “I really doubt that. She cares about you. When she saw me with you on my second day here she nearly bit my head off. I think that she’s attracted to you at this point. She senses a connection, but she’s too scared to want to pursue it. I would suggest not asking her out, not being a conceited arse around her and be yourself. You’re a really nice guy when you aren’t putting on an act,” Harri told him and he laughed at her last comment.
“True. Thank you, Harri. You really seem to have an insight into this Veela thing,” James said and Harri laughed.
“Yea, I’ve known about my mate since I was fourteen. I know all about the Veela stuff. I only completely came into my inheritance four months ago. George and I have been together for a long time, but we still find out new things about each other. Everyday is a new adventure. Sometimes, I think that being a Veela sucks, being overly attractive and having people ogle me. But, then when I have my mate look at me...it’s the best feeling. You’ll understand that one day,” Harri assured him and he nodded as the blonde grabbed her papers and left him sitting against the tree, staring at the lake.
Harri had given him a lot to think about and she was happy. Maybe she was the guiding force that got her parents together. She was walking up the path back to the school slowly, she didn’t have any classes for the rest of the afternoon and wanted a little bit of a break before she tried to apologize to Lily again.
“Harri!” A voice hissed from her left. Harri spun around and was face to face with Severus Snape, who had a book clutched tightly in his arms.
“Hullo,” she greeted casually. She and Snape had been getting alone swimmingly, at least when none of this Slytherin friends were around. When they were watching he was cold to her. Harri didn’t think much of it. She knew that it took a lot to survive in Slytherin.
“What were you doing talking to Potter?” He questioned with a glare. Harri rolled her eyes.
“He wanted some advice, so I gave him some. You don’t really have any say in who I can and can’t talk to, Sev. Is there something you needed?” Harri replied and he nodded his head with a concerned frown on his face.
“Some of the Slytherin’s have decided that they want you to join the Dark Lord...and if you say no, they plan on capturing you and selling you, as a play thing,” Snape warned her and Harri’s eyes went wide. She gripped the papers in her hands tightly. The Slytherin looked guilty and she assumed that he was going to be in the group that was going to try to take her away.
“You do realize that I’m going to fight, right?” she asked and he opened his mouth a few times, but found he couldn’t answer. He seemed shocked that she wasn’t angry at him.
She gave him a gentle smile and a comforting pat on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later, alright?” she said before she walked away, eyes darkening significantly. No doubt she was going to have to prepare for a fight tonight.
“You aren’t going out anywhere by yourself. I don’t care if you have to see your mate,” Sirius snapped protectively. Harri was sitting in the common room with the Marauders, minus Peter, who was mysteriously absent.
“Look, they’re going to attack me at some point. I might as well get it over with. The longer I’m away from George the weaker I’m going to become. It will literally be easier for me to take them down tonight then wait a few more days,” Harri explained and James nodded, understanding.
So, they came up with a plan to sneak out right before curfew, hoping that the Slytherin’s would have gone back to their common room, so she could see her mate. Right before the small group got out of the common room a voice came from the top of the stairs. “Where do you think you four are going?” Harri cursed softly. Lily was on the top of the stairs, with her hands on her hips looking angry.
“Look, Evans, the Slytherins threatened Harri and she needs to see George otherwise her magic will weaken. We didn’t want her leaving by herself. So, either we stun you or you come with us,” James said and Lily blinked a few times. James had never given her a choice to come with them before.
