The Veela’s Champion Chapter 12

“Now that we’re all here, let us begin the Second Task!” Ludo Bagman exclaimed. “Champions, ready yourselves!”

The day of the second task was cold and gloomy, making the prospect of diving into the lake that much more unappealing. The only upside was that he could cast warming charm on himself, but Harry didn’t know how effective those would be in the freezing cold water.

His own outfit consisted of Hogwarts-themed swim trunks and shirt, coincidentally themed in Gryffindor colors. Similar could be said for Cedric as well as Krum, with Cedric’s being Hufflepuff themed while Krum’s had Drumstrang colors.

The most eye catching of the champions was Fleur, wearing a white bathing suit that he struggled to take his eyes off of. She didn’t wear a bikini, yet her outfit still erotically clung to all of her curves while emphasizing her femininity.

Her hands reached back then, and her gentle fingers brushed over her big, heart-shaped ass before reaching into the tight space between her cheeks to readjust the bottom part of her suit. Harry couldn’t help but stare at the action, and a quick glance showed every other male in the vicinity doing the same.

He didn’t get mad, having long gotten used to other boys staring at Fleur. She was a beautiful Veela, with a powerful allure that made most men break down into stuttering and drooling messes. No, it wasn’t that part that bothered Harry, but rather the public firestorm they had created in the press.

Their relationship was not only a big gossip topic amongst the Hogwarts student population, but was even written about in newspapers and magazines he saw. The worst part was that it wasn’t only British press and tabloids writing about him and Fleur, but also those in the international press.

France’s own Champion in the Triwizard Tournament, a Veela from a powerful family, dating her competitor, Britain’s own Boy-Who-Lived, was headline-worthy news it seemed. And while Harry desperately tried to ignore it all, there was simply no unseeing front-page articles about him and Fleur, along with multiple-page spreads in Witch Weekly.

“One moment, Ludo.” Mr. Crouch cut the man off, turning to face them. “I shall now inform each of you who your hostages will be for the upcoming task. Mr. Diggory, your hostage will be Ms. Chang.”

Cedric nodded with a grimace, all while folding his hands awkwardly.

“Ms. Delacour, your hostage will be your sister, Gabrielle.”

‘What?!’ Harry’s eyes widened in shock, not expecting that. A glance at Fleur showed the Beauxbatons Champion was equally shocked, yet her mood was rapidly changing to be infuriated.

“Mr. Krum, your hostage will be Ms. Hermione Granger.”

‘Hermione too?’ Harry didn’t see that coming, especially when Hermione was one of the few people in Hogwarts he was still somewhat close with. His participation in the tournament had made him an outcast in the castle, with Neville and Hermione being the only Gryffindors in his year that were on a friendly basis with him.

It made things especially hard, and Harry had to lean on Fleur for company that much more often because of it. Hermione was still willing to spend time with him, but it was difficult when she either had to choose between spending time with either Ron or him. His former best friend still hated his guts, and things would be had if Ron caught Hermione hanging around him.

“And finally, Mr. Potter, your hostage will be your House-elf, Dobby.”

“Dobby?!” Harry felt just as perplexed as everyone else, as strange murmurings sprung up from the nearby crowd.

He guessed that the hostage for each champion had to be someone they held dear. And at the end of the day, Harry didn’t exactly have all that many people he considered close. He could really count them on one hand, being Fleur, Sirius, Hermione, Hagrid, and maybe even Dudley, and he was sure most of those options wouldn’t work in a school tournament.

“Sonorus!” Bagman incanted as he pointed his wand at his throat. “Ladies and Gentlemen, our champions are all ready for the second task to begin, which will start on my whistle. They have one hour to complete it and retrieve what has been taken from them. Let’s begin!”

The whistle blew through the cold air, and Harry carefully cast the Bubble-Head Charm around his head. Both he and Fleur learned it after finding out the egg’s clue, knowing they would need to be prepared to breathe underwater for the second task. It created a bubble of oxygen around his head for him to breathe, and he wasted no time before jumping into the water.

He descended into its depths without thought, going deep into the water as to not waste time. It was only once he delved into the lake that he realized how murky and dark it was, and Harry picked a random direction before swimming off.

He passed tall outgrowths of underwater plants and weeds, swimming awkwardly with his wand in hand as he searched for some sort of clue. Every now and then he would spot something odd in the distance, only to swim towards it and find either a large fish or some sort of exotic underwater growth.

It was vexing, but he did his best not to lose his head and keep calm. Dobby was counting on him to be rescued, as Harry did his absolute best to scan his surroundings before moving on to another area of the lake to search. He knew that time was passing, and his limbs began to grow tired as he swam more.

Eventually, he delved into the deeper parts of the lake, descending through tall weeds as he became desperate. There was less visibility in the tall plants, yet Harry needed to maneuver through them if he wanted to find anything.

Something grabbed his heel then, and Harry spun to see a grindylow looking up at him. It looked monstrous, having horns and sharp teeth, as it let out a growl. He brought his other foot down and kicked its face, only making it more angry, And the grindylow went to strike him with its free hand..

“Relashio!” He cast awkwardly through his Bubble-Head Charm, his spell bubbling through the water and hitting the creature. The beast let go of him then, and Harry quickly swam in the opposite direction to get away.

He ended up having to swim through even more weeds because of that decision, and Harry darted between the dense underwater foliage with his quidditch dexterity on full display. Finally, he reached the end of the weeds, and instead of finding empty open water he ended up in front of a vast underwater village.

Strange creatures, which he recognized as merpeople, swam around with a grouping of them positioned at the center of the village. In the middle of their group were the hostages for the task, or at least the ones who had yet to be retrieved. There were four vines that held them up, with only Dobby and Gabrielle still remaining, while Hermione and Cho were missing.

Harry cautiously swam toward them, eyeing the mermen all the while as to make sure they wouldn’t attack him. Sure enough, he maneuvered through the water right up to Dobby, and was easily able to untie him. The house-elf looked comically funny in the strange deep sleep that the tournament organizers had put him in, and Harry smiled as he placed the small elf under his arm.

He then moved over to Gabrielle, and gripped one of the vines around her waist before tugging it away. That was when one of the merpeople swam over to him, and swatted him away from the small Veela.

“Only one each.” The mermen said.

Harry’s eyes widened in shock, as he looked around to see if Fleur was nearby. Cedric and Krum had already retrieved their own hostages, and he had obviously already picked up Dobby, meaning it was only Fleur who had yet to finish the task. It was especially worrying that the task was nearly over, and while Harry didn’t have a watch on hand, he knew that he had been swimming around the lake for quite some time.

They were given an hour to complete the task, and Harry wondered what it would mean for Gabrielle if she was not rescued. The rational part of him believed she would be fine, and that the tournament organizers would retrieve her later. Yet the emotional part of his mind claimed she was right in front of him, and that it wouldn’t make sense to abandon her. He knew the second task was close to finishing at that point, and without Fleur in sight it meant Gabrielle would be left behind.

He grimaced in worry, and looked straight up to try and see the lake’s surface. Distantly, he could see rays of sun breach the surface of the water, and he looked back at the merpeople who were surrounding him then.

He moved as fast as he could in the water, which was rather sluggishly, as he blasted the nearby mermen away with his wand. He moved over to Gabrielle and untied her, awkwardly hugging her and Dobby close to his body as the surrounding merpeople closed in.

When that was done he pointed his wand downwards, and without casting a spell he simply pushed downwards with his own magic. It was a blunt way to go about ascending the lake, as he used his own magic as fuel to make himself rocket upwards. Unfortunately, that was when his bubble-head charm finally gave out.

His magic, as well as his focus to channel it, had both reached its limit. His limbs were tired, his magic had been nearly drained, and it was all he could do not to open his mouth and drown. His lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, all while his body shook from the pain caused by the freezing water.

‘Am I really going to drown in this lake? All for some school tournament?’ The thought echoed through his mind, right as his vision darkened and his limbs gave out from fatigue. He thought that everything was lost then, but that was when he breached the surface, and Harry took heaving gulps of air.

“Great Harry Potter sir!”

“‘Arry!”

Both Dobby and Gabrielle called out from his sides, and in the distance Harry could hear the cheers from the stands of onlookers. He opened his eyes to see the two hostages looking at him as they both treaded water, and the three began making their way towards the pier where the task started from.

“Oh, I can’t believe it was you who rescued me!” Gabrielle was chatting excitedly as they swam, yet Harry was simply too tired to reply. “Fleur is going to be so jealous!”

“Great Harry Potter Sir rescued Dobby! Dobby owes Great Harry Potter Sir a great debt!” The House elf looked ridiculous as he dog paddled water with his small, awkward limbs.

“Hehe, look at how Fleur is staring at you!” Gabrielle laughed from his side.

He looked up at the pier, focusing in on where his girlfriend was standing. She wore a towel and was surrounded by various mediwitches and fellow Beauxbatons students, all while worriedly staring at Gabrielle as she drew closer. However, when her gaze shifted to look at Harry, Fleur’s expression changed to resemble something else entirely.

Harry wasn’t entirely sure how to describe it. Crazed would be the first description that came to mind, followed by downright debasing. It was like some sort of demon had possessed her, the way her gaze conveyed the things she wanted to do to him in that moment.

If the water wasn’t so cold, Harry was sure he would be sporting an erection. Yet at the same time however, he was tempted to swim as hard and fast as he could to get away. Either way, it meant that he would have to deal with a crazy Veela when he arrived.

They reached the pier then, and soon the group of them was surrounded and hauled out of the cold lake.

“Gabrielle! Is moi sister okay?!” Fleur yelled out in panic, all while Madame Maxime restrained her.

Harry sighed tiredly, even as Madame Pomfrey hauled him up and dragged him to the medical tent while going on about how reckless he was. He soon found himself laying in a medical bed while being fed one potion after the other, each tasting worse than the last.

“Those tournament organizers! Just what were they thinking?!” The old Mediwitch complained. “I’ll have to speak with Dumbledore, give him a piece of my mind-”

“Harry!” Hermione ran into the tent suddenly, wearing wet school robes with a towel wrapped around her. She had been one of the hostages, and he was relieved to see she was fine. “Harry, are you okay? I can’t believe you did all that-”

“I’m fine, Hermione.” He managed to get out before she kept on. “Just tired.”

“Hermy-owny, you have da water beetle in your hair.” Krum said from his spot on a nearby medical bed, causing the girl to blush as she tried to get it off.

Suddenly the flap to the medical tent was violently thrown open, and his girlfriend charged in before looking around wildly. When she caught sight of him, Fleur’s form changed into a blur as she crossed the room before nearly jumping on top of him.

Her lips were all over his own, all while her soaked blonde hair drooped down onto his face. His own eyes were wide as she pressed up against his form wildly, nearly pushing both of them off the bed in her rush.

She was creating quite a scene with her actions, and Harry could hear nearby gasps at her scandalous behavior. But Fleur clearly didn’t care, too engrossed in showing her affection for him.

Finally, she pulled away, but only pulled back a few inches from his face. Harry could feel her warm breath against his lips, as well as her curvy form pressing tight against his own body. It was like she was ready to fuck him then and there, and blood began to flood his growing shaft. That was when she spoke, her words soft as a whisper yet more determined than ever. “When this is over, mon amour, I want you to breed me.”

Harry shivered, all while her intense blue gaze stayed locked onto his own.

“Ms. Delacour. Ms. Delacour!” Madame Promfrey was yelling at that point. “Please get away from Mr. Potter!”

Fleur cupped the sides of his face before giving him a searing kiss, before she then slithered down his body and backed away. The medical tent’s occupants all looked either scandalized or flustered, with Hermione looking equal parts both. For her part, Fleur didn’t look the least bit embarrassed, instead giving him a suggestive wink.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we, the judges, have reached our decision!” Bagman’s boomed from outside the tent suddenly. “After studying each champions’ performance at the bottom of the lake, we have decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows. . . . Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.”

Applause sounded from the crowds outside.

“I deserve zero.” Said Fleur dully, shaking her head.

“Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was the first to return with his hostage. We therefore award him forty-seven points.” Enormous cheers erupted from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd.

“Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points.” Karkaroff clapped, looking thrilled.

“Finally, Harry Potter also used the Bubble-Head Charm, yet returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, Mr. Potter put in the additional effort to return all of the remaining hostages.” Both Fleur and Hermione gave him approving yet exasperated looks. “Most of the judges, feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. Thus Mr. Potter’s score is forty-five points.”

The crowd applauded, but Harry didn’t care. He stopped caring about the tournament a long time ago. ‘Just one more task and the tournament is over.’

Disclaimer: All Characters are over the age of 18.

A/N: There is a portrait from a while back of Fleur dressed for the second task