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Percy nodded again, still focused on the map. "Oui... je pense que oui," he repeated, sounding a bit more sure this time. His French really was improving, slowly but surely.
He took out his own wand, its wood dark and familiar in his hand. Then he carefully unrolled the large, blank piece of fresh parchment onto his work table, smoothing it out until it lay flat, almost covering the entire surface. It was nearly the exact same size as the Marauder's Map lying beside it.
He looked up at Fleur, a hopeful, excited grin lighting up his face. "Tu veux faire les honneurs, mon amour?" (Want to do the honors, my love?) he asked, gesturing to the blank parchment.
Fleur smirked playfully, tapping his nose with her finger. "Just admit you are still bad at basic charms, won't you?" she teased him gently. She took out her own elegant wand, its handle inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
With a few graceful waves over the blank parchment, she began casting complex preservation charms. Silvery light flowed from her wand tip, sinking into the paper.
These charms would prevent it from being easily burned, torn, or destroyed by magic or water. She then added another clever charm, one that would automatically allow the large parchment to fold itself up into a tiny square, over and over again, without ever becoming thicker than a single, flat layer of parchment perfect for hiding.
"Okay, nice work," Percy admitted, impressed by her smooth spellcasting. "And now to make zem stick permanently," he said.
He took his own wand back and carefully began drawing tiny, intricate runes along all four edges of the newly charmed parchment.
These runes would lock Fleur's charms in place, making them permanent and much harder to break. When he was finished, he took a deep breath and crossed the fingers of his free hand tightly.
"Please, please work," he muttered under his breath. He pointed his wand directly at the center of the blank parchment and gave it a sharp flick, shouting the Greek spell he had been working on for some time now: "[Copy Map Rune Charm!]"
This was a complex spell Percy had been trying to perfect for weeks. Its goal was to link his new parchment directly into the existing, hidden rune network that the original Marauders had cleverly set up all over Hogwarts castle.
For a tense second, nothing happened. Then, there was a sudden, bright flash of white light that filled the small workspace, making them both blink.
When the light faded, the previously blank parchment was no longer white. It was now completely covered with thin, moving black lines, showing every corridor, room, and secret passage of Hogwarts castle.
Tiny black dots, each labeled with a name, moved across the lines, showing exactly where everyone inside the castle was at that very moment. It looked almost identical to the original Marauder's Map.
"You did it! Percy, you actually did it!" Fleur cheered, throwing her arms around his neck in sheer delight. She planted an enthusiastic kiss right on his cheek. "You are a true genius!"
Percy chuckled, hugging her back but shaking his head. "Hardly a genius," he said modestly, though he felt a surge of pride. "I just basically ripped off all zeir amazing hard work." He quickly waved his wand over his new map, casting another security charm he had prepared this one making it voice-activated, just like the original. He turned to Fleur, his green eyes sparkling with excitement.
"So," he asked with a grin, "what do you want the special password to be for this one?"
Fleur smiled, tapping a thoughtful finger against her chin. She hummed for a moment. "'Ow about... 'Black Beauty'?" she suggested, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Percy rolled his eyes dramatically, groaning. "Oh, I knew it. I absolutely knew you were a secret horse freak."
"Perzy!" Fleur chuckled, lightly swatting his arm. "W'en will you ever learn? Almost every woman is a little bit of a 'orse freak deep down."
Percy just smiled, knowing she was probably right. He tapped his wand gently on his newly created map and whispered clearly, "Activation password: Black Beauty. De-activation password: Yellow Dove."
Fleur rolled her eyes again, but she was still smiling. "Really original, Perzy. Very creative."
Percy smirked back. "I know, right?" He flicked his wand again, and both his new map and the original Marauder's Map folded themselves up neatly into small squares.
He carefully tucked them both away into a hidden drawer in his work table.
He smiled to himself. He really had been practicing his basic charms diligently, starting right from the very beginning chapters in his textbooks. And he had gotten better. A lot better, actually.
Just then, a loud, sharp screech echoed from outside. Fleur walked over to the small window of their hidden workspace and opened it.
A sleek, black raven came flying straight in, landing gracefully, if a bit arrogantly, right on Percy's desk amongst his tools and notes.
The raven looked directly at Percy and seemed to... scoff? Percy's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. How could a simple bird possibly have that much attitude?
The raven impatiently presented its leg, which had a small scroll of parchment tied around it with a thin ribbon. It let out another demanding caw, clearly telling Percy to hurry up and take the letter already. Percy sighed, shaking his head at the bird's rudeness.
"Alright, alright, keep your feathers on," he grumbled. He carefully untied the ribbon and removed the letter. The very moment the scroll was free from its leg, the raven disappeared instantly in a sudden puff of black smoke, leaving behind only a faint smell of ozone and a very confused demigod. "Okay... that was... surprising," Percy muttered, staring at the spot where the bird had been.
"W'o iz it from?" Fleur asked, shutting the window against the slight forest breeze.
Percy looked down at the envelope in his hand. His name was written on the front in a very familiar, elegant, yet slightly chaotic handwriting. A smile spread across his face. "It is from Hecate," he said, recognizing his aunt's script instantly. He quickly broke the wax seal and unfolded the letter;
My Dearest Nephew,
Wow, so the infamous Sirius Black is actually innocent, huh? Well, is not that just a delightful little surprise! Honestly, the things that happen in your magical world never cease to amaze me.
Now, I get that you want to help people, Percy, it is one of your better qualities (sometimes). I can not really blame you for wanting to help your friend Harry's godfather. But honestly, Percy, you really need to think things through sometimes!
This poor man has not seen a proper woman in over twelve long years in that horrible prison, and you want him to be staying alone in the same house as sexy, irresistible old me? Ha! It is like you want me to end up giving you a new little cousin!
At that point, Percy could not resist letting out a loud, long, tired groan and rubbing his temples. Hecate would absolutely never change. She was impossible. He took a deep breath and continued reading;
Anyway, teasing aside, sure, why not. He can stay. Send Black our house address over there in England, but make sure you tell him to take his sweet time getting there and, most importantly, to only appear as a dog when he arrives and when he is outside the house. Got it? Very important.
As I think I told you before, I do not really use that house much nowadays, so he will pretty much have the entire place to himself.
Peace and quiet, finally! I will make sure to leave him some starting food and a bit of emergency cash, but he is absolutely not to leave the house while he is in his human form.
Understood? Oh, and tell him I might just drop in unexpectedly from time to time, you know, just to see how he is doing, make sure he is not trashing the place. Keep him on his toes.
Now that all that boring business is out of the way, tell me, how have you been, my favorite nephew? Has your little map project finally taken off? I see you are still working on it!
And when will that Felix Felicis potion finally be ready?
You promised me a bottle! Also, have you and that pretty little veela girlfriend of yours finally... you know... done it yet? Make sure you give me lots and lots of little grand-nephews and grand-nieces to spoil and play with soon! Chop chop!
With loads of love and maybe just a little bit of inappropriate kindness,
Your favorite Aunt, Hecate Blackfyre
P.S. Do me a favor and give that cute Harry Potter's tight little bum a good pinch for me next time you see him, will you? Tell him it is from a secret admirer!
As Percy and Fleur read the part about their love life and Hecate's demands for babies, both teenagers found their faces flushing bright red. Percy quickly looked over at his girlfriend, who seemed completely speechless, staring down at the letter with wide eyes.
Percy cleared his throat awkwardly, folding the letter and quickly putting it away in his pocket. "S-she is... she is always like that," he stammered slightly. "You will... you will get used to 'er eventually."
The veela just nodded mutely, still blushing. "R-right..." she managed to whisper. "...Is she always this... this pushy about... things?"
Percy groaned again, louder this time. "Oh, you 'ave absolutely no idea," he muttered. Fleur looked down at her hands, looking suddenly ashamed or embarrassed.
Percy sighed softly. He stepped closer and gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind, resting his chin softly on the top of her head.
"Hey," he whispered gently. "You know I do not expect you to do anything you are not ready to do, right? Ever?"
Fleur reached up and grabbed Percy's forearm where it rested on her shoulder, holding onto it tightly. "Yez..." she whispered back. "...I know zat."
"So do not worry about what she says," Percy murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "That sort of thing... it is never going to be an issue between us. Okay?"
"Of course you would say zat," Fleur suddenly scoffed, pulling away from his embrace slightly. Her voice sounded suddenly bitter. "You 'ave already slept with five other veela before me. I am sure to you, it is probably all just the same thing."
"Hey! Do not talk like that," Percy said immediately, his own tone hardening slightly. He gently but firmly turned her around so she had to face him. He looked into her eyes, searching her face. "What is wrong, Fleur? Really wrong?"
"Why does zomezing always 'ave to be wrong?" she asked defensively, shrugging his hands off her shoulders completely now. "Cannot I just 'ave an opinion about zings?"
"It is not just that, it is..." Percy trailed off, looking at her worriedly. A cold knot of fear began to tighten in his chest, a fear that she was starting to regret their relationship, that maybe she was getting tired of him.
"Please, Fleur..." he pleaded, his voice softer now, vulnerable. "...Whatever it is that is bothering you, I want to help you. Please just tell me what is wrong, and I will try my very best to fix it. I promise."
Fleur hesitated, biting her lip. Then she finally sighed, looking away from him towards the forest floor. "I... I just do not know where this relationship... where we... are going."
Those words hit the demigod harder than a physical blow, harder even than a thunderbolt from Zeus himself might have felt. His heart seemed to stop in his chest.
"Please," he whispered, his voice choked with sudden panic. "Please do not break up with me, Fleur! Please!"
Fleur blinked, looking genuinely shocked by his reaction. "What? Break up? Percy! Non! I am not going to break up with you! Why would you even think zat?"
Percy blinked back, confused and relieved but still shaken. "But... but you just said... you said that you do not know where this relationship is going!"
Fleur sighed again, rolling her eyes slightly, though her expression softened. "Non, you fool," she said gently, reaching out to touch his arm.
"It iz just... t'e school year iz almost over now... And I am in my final year at Beauxbatons. I will be graduating soon. And you... you are ztill only in your zixt' year 'ere at Hogwarts."
Percy blinked again, still not quite understanding where this was going. "And? So what?"
Fleur took another deep breath, then rushed the next words out quickly, looking away again as if ashamed to admit it. "I... I do not want to... to zleep wit' zomeone for ze first time... if I am never going to zee 'im again after summer."
"Fleur," Percy said immediately, his voice firm and sure. He gently took her chin, making her look at him. "We can make it work. Long distance, visits... whatever it takes. We will make it work."
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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