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"W'at 'ave I gotten myzelf into?" Fleur groaned again, still rubbing her temples dramatically. She leaned her head against Percy's shoulder.
"Did you really 'ave to put it in every single clazzroom? And t'e library too? The whole caztle still zmellz like old hippogriff poop mixed with really, really old zocks!" It was true, a faint, lingering aroma still hung in the air.
Percy just shrugged, looking completely innocent. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Fleur."
"Of courze you don't," Fleur grumbled, though there was a hint of a smile on her lips now. She poked him gently in the ribs. "You're lucky you're so charming, you know. Anyone elze, and you probably wouldn't 'ave a girlfriend anymore after a stunt like t'at."
Percy paused mid-bite of his sandwich. He turned towards her slowly, his eyes widening a fraction. Fleur's jaw half-dropped open as she realized what she had just said out loud. She had said it first.
This was the very first time one of them had actually used the words, admitted that the other was their boyfriend or girlfriend. And Percy... Percy was now grinning like a Cheshire cat, a huge, delighted, slightly smug grin.
"So..." he started, wiggling his eyebrows up and down in a very silly way. "I am your boyfriend, huh?"
"Z'ut up," Fleur grumbled, her cheeks blushing a lovely light pink. She tried to look annoyed but failed.
"What? Come on," Percy grinned wider, thoroughly enjoying this. "You're the one who said it, not me... honey."
"Ztop it," she grumbled again, trying to hide her smile by taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.
"Why? You are my girlfriend, aren't you?" Percy pressed, his voice full of teasing warmth. "I mean, that is why I gave you all those lovely love bites, isn't it?"
Fleur looked down quickly and, sure enough, her collar had slipped again, revealing several faint, purplish marks along the pale skin of her neck.
She let out a little growl and quickly did up her collar button once more, her blush deepening. "I 'ate you zometimes, Perzy Jackzon."
"No, you don't," Percy sighed happily, turning back to his meal with a contented look.
"How come Fleur's always the one who's covered in hickeys, anyway?" Hugo Weasley, Ron's younger brother who was also at the Hufflepuff table, asked with genuine curiosity, overhearing their exchange.
"Yes, what's the matter, Fleur?" Camille, Fleur's friend from Beauxbatons who often joined them, teased from across the table. "Don't like showing your true feelings for Percy in a… visible way?"
Fleur grumbled something under her breath, her face still pink.
"What was that, dear?" Camille asked, leaning closer with a smirk.
"I zaid I can't give 'im one!" Fleur finally growled out, frustrated. "His zkin'z too t'ick, or zomething! It'z like trying to give a rock wall a bruize! Nothing 'appens!"
Percy sighed dramatically, patting his own neck. "Such is my terrible curse," he lamented, though his eyes were twinkling. 'Literally, in this case,' he thought, remembering the Achilles curse.
"Oh, that's so sad!" Juan cried out from beside Percy, clutching his chest in mock sorrow. "One person who can't stop expressing his love with bites, and the other who can't express hers in the same way! Such a tragic, star-crossed couple!"
Fleur shot Juan a very sharp glare that immediately shut him up, while the rest of their friends at the table laughed. Just then, Kelly, the tiny Veela, jumped out of Percy's shirt pocket where she'd been napping.
She stretched her little wings and yawned wide. She looked around the noisy table with sleepy eyes and then grumbled, "Bored!"
Percy sighed, used to her sudden demands. "Sorry, Kelly. What do you want to do then?"
The tiny Veela thought for a moment, tapping her chin with a tiny finger, before her face lit up with a mischievous grin. "Kitty!" she chirped.
Percy chuckled. He knew what that meant. He reached into his other pocket and carefully took out the miniature, paralyzed Hungarian Horntail dragon. He put it on the table in front of Kelly and, with a snap of his fingers, unfroze it.
The tiny dragon immediately snarled and looked around the table, confused and angry. Many students from other tables looked at the tiny, perfectly formed dragon curiously.
It snorted a small puff of real fire at everyone, then turned and saw Kelly. It froze instantly, its tiny golden eyes wide with terror.
Kelly smiled an evil, predatory little smile. "Kitty," she cooed. The tiny dragon gulped, let out a pathetic squeak, and then ran away as fast as its little legs could carry it, scrambling over plates and goblets. Kelly, giggling with delight, chased right after it, her tiny wings beating furiously.
"I have such weird friends," Cedric Diggory grumbled good-naturedly, shaking his head as he watched the tiny chase scene unfold across the Hufflepuff table.
Just then, the morning owls swooped in, dropping the Daily Prophet newspapers with their usual rustle. People began to unfold them and read.
Soon, the familiar sound of whispers started to spread through the hall again. Percy, immediately fearing another nasty article about him and Fleur, leaned over Juan's shoulder to read his copy of the paper.
The headline was indeed written by Rita Skeeter, but this time, it wasn't about them. Thank goodness.
It was an actual exposé piece, one that covered Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and also Madam Maxime, Fleur's headmistress.
The horrible article claimed, with lots of nasty hints and supposed 'evidence', that they were both descended from giants. That they were half-giants.
It was a scathing, cruel article. Apparently, Percy and Fleur weren't the only 'couple' Rita Skeeter had been snooping on during the Yule Ball.
She wrote about how Hagrid was "most likely" the case, given his enormous height and strength, and then went on to insult Madam Maxime personally, calling her unfit to lead her prestigious school due to her "unique and frankly alarming… 'heritage'." It was full of prejudice and mean-spirited speculation.
Percy looked up quickly towards the High Table. He saw the French headmistress, Madam Maxime, looking absolutely horrified. Her face was pale, and she looked deeply hurt and afraid.
Tears pooled up in the corners of her eyes, and Percy could see Dumbledore leaning over, whispering quietly to her as he gently patted her arm in a comforting way.
Percy was seriously rethinking that bird curse for Rita. Maybe he should switch the horrible bitch's entrails around after all. That woman was a menace. But for now, there were more immediate concerns right here in the Great Hall.
Percy got up from the table. The people sitting around him immediately looked concerned, remembering what happened last time he stood up like this.
He didn't care.
He climbed right up onto the Hufflepuff table, ignoring the surprised gasps, and cast a quick Sonorus charm on his throat. "Ah-hem!" he called out, his voice booming through the hall. The entire student body turned to look at him, surprised.
"Alright people, listen up! You all know the drill by now. No nasty name-calling, no pointing fingers, and no gossiping about this garbage. Throw all your copies of that disgusting paper out the window, right now, before I make you."
The students just blinked, staring at him, some looking confused, others defiant. Percy sighed, a frustrated sound.
'Figures,' he thought.
He lowered his voice to a low, dangerous growl, put on his best scary, intimidating face (the one that usually worked on monsters), and roared, "NOW!"
A few younger students flinched visibly at his tone and immediately scrambled to the windows, throwing their papers out and down towards the Black Lake below. However, a few of the older students, mostly Slytherins as usual, just stared back at him defiantly, their arms crossed.
They clearly had no intention of doing what he said. It wasn't anyone's surprise to know that most of those defiant students were from Slytherin house.
Percy rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Alright then, have it your way. You asked for it." He pulled out his wand. "Accio newspaper!" Percy pushed as much of his raw magical power as he could into the summoning spell, causing his wand to heat up uncomfortably in his hand from the sudden exertion.
This overpowered the normal limits of the spell, and immediately, all the copies of the Daily Prophet still in the hall flew out of their owners' hands with surprising force.
A few students tried to hold on tight, yelping in surprise, but they ultimately failed as the papers were ripped from their grasp.
Percy gathered all the flying papers into a big messy ball in mid-air with a wave of his wand and then, with another flick, sent them sailing out through an open window, to join the others at the bottom of the lake.
He wiped his hands together as if dusting them off and nodded, satisfied. "There," he announced to the quiet hall.
"No more garbage smelling up the morning air." He hopped down from the table, walked back to his seat next to Fleur, and sat down calmly.
The rest of the students in the hall looked at him in stunned surprise for a moment, then slowly, one by one, they settled down as well, turning back to their breakfasts, though the atmosphere was definitely a bit tense.
Percy turned to look at the teacher's table and saw Madam Maxime smiling softly, a look of genuine joy and relief on her face. She caught his eye and gave him a small, grateful nod. Percy just nodded back once before returning to his own meal.
Unfortunately, despite Percy's efforts, the damage from Rita Skeeter's article was already done. According to Harry, who told them later, Hagrid didn't show up for Care of Magical Creatures class that day.
He was too ashamed and upset. He was replaced by a temporary teacher, some stern-looking witch named Professor Grubbly-Plank.
And the whole school was basically reeling from the 'shocking' news that their kind, if sometimes clumsy, groundskeeper was actually a half-giant.
Malfoy, of course, being the git he was, even went so far as to insult Harry loudly in the middle of a crowded corridor for being friends with Hagrid, calling Hagrid a "great, lumbering oaf."
But Harry, remembering Percy's advice and maybe feeling a bit braver, stayed surprisingly calm. He just looked Draco right in the eye and whispered, loud enough for Malfoy to hear, "Oh, hello Percy. Hi Fleur. Fancy seeing you two here."
The Slytherin flinched so hard he almost tripped over his own feet and fell as he scrambled to run away, without even looking back to see if the powerful couple was actually standing behind him or not.
Needless to say, Harry had a lot of fun using that little line to make the ferret-boy jump out of his skin from time to time after that.
The first week of proper classes after the holidays went by quickly enough for Percy. He was sorely tempted, more than once, to try and get another day off, maybe with a strategically placed batch of Fanged Frisbees or some more well-aimed dungbombs.
But after a very stern, no-nonsense talking to from Fleur (who apparently valued her education more than his pranks), Percy was reluctantly forced to dismiss the idea. For now.
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If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016