The Benefits of Saving Veela- Chapter 46

AN: First off, I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday. Mine was far, far busier than I was expecting and the main reason for the delay on this chapter. Though it was busy in a good way, rather than the way most of this year has been.

The next chapter release is going to be for 'Taming a Dragon' and then we'll have the most recent poll winner, 'Settling Debts'.

Anyway, on with the chapter and I hope you enjoy.

Casting-

Ginny-Megan DeLuca

Susan- Natalia Tihomirova

Daphne- Nicole Deliah

Sue- Park Da Hyun

Padma-Ketika Sharma

Anya- Hannah Palmer

Orina- Hilde Osland

“Come on, mate, gotta get down to the Great Hall!” Ron seemed oddly enthusiastic about the prospect given it was already after lunch. Harry had to sidestep him as he thundered out of the portrait hole. Parvati followed him out and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend’s antics with a smile on her face.

It was only when Ginny made her way out a few seconds later that he got the chance to ask, “Am I missing something?”

“Yes,” she confirmed with a cheeky smile, “but considering you haven’t been in the dorm since yesterday, that’s not really surprising.” Moving to his side, she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek before grabbing his hip and pulling him along.

Letting her guide him, he guessed, “There was something on the notice board then?”

“Right in one.” They had to stop and wait as the staircase chose that particular moment to shift, “There’s to be another little competition.”

Harry doubted there was going to be any sort of eating competition. And in all fairness to Ron, Parvati has helped curb some of his worst eating habits. There was already a quidditch tournament, which left only one great interest of Ron’s that could be causing so much excitement, “It’s a chess tournament, isn’t it?”

“Your deductive skill could rival Hermione’s at times, love.” Her teasing earned her a poke to the ribs that had her batting at his hands. Giggling, she relented, “But yes, there’s a chess tournament.”

“He doesn’t think I’m going to enter, does he?” Harry wasn’t abysmal at the game, but he wasn’t good enough to compete in a tournament.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she answered, “Honestly, I don’t know. I think he’s just hoping for a bit of support. I know that’s why he’s dragging Parvati along.”

“Is Susan entering?”

“Yep, though it took a good deal of convincing from Daphne and Hannah to get her to agree to it.” She nudged his shoulder, “Reckon they could’ve used your help convincing her.”

“If I could be everywhere at once for just those sorts of situations, life would be much simpler.”

Ginny snickered, “Oh the troubles of a man with a harem.”

This time she was much less successful in avoiding his poking fingers. As the staircase finally returned, she relented, “I give… I give… mercy.” She was being intentionally overdramatic. As the staircase clicked into place, she darted away from him with one last cheeky remark, “It’s still true.”

They hurried down the stairs together, him hot on her heels. She only slowed when they caught up with her brother just before he reached the Great Hall. They entered just behind them to find more people than he would’ve expected gathered for the tournament. The Hall looked different than usual. Rather than four long tables along the length of the room, there were individual tables with a bench on either side and a chess set in the middle, “Is this supposed to finish just today?”

“Yep,” Ron turned to reply enthusiastically, “It’s round-robin, all-play-all. Whoever wins the most games by the end of the tournament, or I suppose has the most points, wins!”

“Seems like it’ll take quite a long time…” Looking around, he doubted that everyone there was going to take part, but considering how long a game could take between him and Ron, despite the fact he wasn’t nearly as good, he would be surprised if it didn’t take all day.

“But this is blitz!” Ron said it as though Harry should understand what that meant. At his confused look, his friend explained, pointing to the little clocks that were sitting at each of the tables, “Each player only has five minutes to complete. If you run out of time, you lose.”

That was an entirely different way of playing chess than Harry had ever experienced. Though, it did explain how they were going to play the whole tournament in a single afternoon.

“Well best of luck, mate.” Harry clapped him on the shoulder before spying some else he needed to go and offer some encouragement.

Susan was standing with Hannah, arms crossed, tapping her fingers against her elbow and worrying her lower lip. It didn’t take a genius to realize that she was nervous. When Hannah noticed his approach, she almost looked relieved. She squeezed her friend’s arm before giving him some space. Hugging her around the shoulder, he spoke softly, “How are you doing?”

The Hufflepuff gave him a rather unimpressed look, before admitting in a clipped tone, “Nervous.”

“Why?”

The pointed question caught her off guard, “Because… I’ve never played chess in front of an audience before! And certainly not competitively. I never should’ve let Hannah and Daphne convince me to do this.”

“You never dueled in front of an audience before this year either.” Harry reminded her, though from her scowl, she didn’t appreciate it, “And I honestly don’t see what difference it makes.”

“It makes a huge difference!” She said it loud enough that a few people glanced in their direction. Ducking her head, she blushed and spoke loud enough that only he could hear, “I had very good motivation to set aside my nerves and try out for the dueling team, thank you very much.”

“I know,” It was him that was the initial motivation behind that decision, after all, “But you’ve still enjoyed every second of it, or at least most of them.” There were times where even he was less than enthusiastic given the practice schedule.

Susan huffed, crossing her arms as he still failed to convince her.

“We both know you’re a good chess player, Susan. Are you the best player here? Maybe.” He managed to get a little smile out of her thanks to that, “Does it matter? No. You’ll play your best, because you enjoy the game, and let the pieces fall where they may. No one’s going to judge you whether you come first or last.”

Releasing a breath through her nose, Susan shook her head before leaning on his shoulder, “Thanks. You’re right… easy to get inside my own head though.”

“Good thing I’m here to help get you out, then.” He hugged her hip.

“Did Harry manage to calm you down?” Daphne’s voice from behind them was enough to make Susan jump a little bit. She softly elbowed him as he failed to suppress his chuckle.

“Yes…” The redhead rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the faint smile from her lips.

Any further banter between the two of them was interrupted as Headmistress Hendriksen’s magically enhanced voice quieted them all, “Ladies and gentlemen, I must say that I’m pleased with the turnout for this little event, especially on such short notice. But the idea only occurred to me earlier this week.”

Everyone in the Hall knew that there were only so many free weekends that would allow the opportunity for another event. There were still quidditch games that needed to be played, trivia tilts to be battled, and duels that needed to be fought, and they filled up most of the weekends between then and the Third Task.

“Now, the first-round matches have been randomly selected…” She waved her wand and names appeared above each of the chess boards in neat golden script along with a number. On one of the walls, in large letters, the names were written next to the numbers again to make it easier to find their matches. There were a few familiar names up there, including Gabrielle’s. One he hadn’t expected to see was his back-up seeker, Emma.

Susan swallowed nervously as she found her name written up there beside one of the Durmstrang students. Squeezing her shoulder, he gave her one last bit of encouragement, “Go on… you know we’ll be rooting for you.”

“I know.” She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek before finally heading off to her table. Her opponent was a tall Russian girl that looked a little gangly, as though she’d yet to fully grow into her body. Her name was Olga Nabokova and she was a first year.

“I was half-expecting you’d need to give her the same sort of ‘pep talk’ that Fleur needed before the dueling tournament.” It was a wholly lascivious suggestion though you wouldn’t know it from Daphne’s perfectly stoic expression. Whenever it was needed, she could still fall into that carefully developed image.

Something about seeing her do it was enough to make him bark out a laugh. Shaking his head, he rested his hand on her lower back and started walking to go and watch Susan’s game. Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, “I wouldn’t have been against it… but I was a little late. It didn’t help that Susan was standing in the middle of the Great Hall.”

He could see the spark of mischief in her eyes as she reminded him, “From what I hear, that hasn’t stopped you recently.”

“I was sitting… not standing.” He corrected her, “And I had a whole table to help from being discovered.” Not to mention the spells that Fleur was careful to use, too.  

Daphne just shook her head as Hendriksen quieted them again, “While there are silencing bubbles around each of the tables, try not to be too loud or boisterous. Focus is necessary when playing chess, and our participants deserve as few distractions as possible.” The Headmistress walked through the tables for one last check before announcing, “Please start your clocks, and make your opening moves.”

While it certainly wasn’t as exciting as watching a quidditch match, or a duel, there was something to be said for watching the strategies that unfolded and trying to keep up with them. Pieces started destroying each other in short order as people clicked their clocks back and forth.

They were in the end game, both of their clocks ticking down below the thirty-second mark as Susan tapped her feet beneath the table. The Hufflepuff was up on pieces, but the Russian girl was up on time. But it was Susan that had the winning sequence, “Knight to A3.” Her black knight cantered across the board before decimating a poor pawn.

Olga returned by capturing the knight with her own pawn only for Susan to play, “Queen to A3.” Another pawn met its end, and Olga offered her hand in concession. Wiping her own on her skirt first, Susan took it.

Cheering seemed out of place, but Harry offered her a thumbs up as she turned to look at them, “Did she win the first match?” A voice whispered from behind him.

Harry turned to find Padma and Sue both curiously trying to look past him, “She did… and you don’t have to whisper.”

“Oh…” Padma spoke normally, “that’s great.”

“Did we miss much?” Sue asked.

“Just one match.” He assured her, unsure whether that was a good thing or bad thing in the Ravenclaw’s estimation. It went without saying that chess wasn’t for everyone, particularly watching it.

Once the first round finished, the next rounds matches were announced and the round-robin began. Susan’s second opponent was a short Beauxbatons third year boy that looked even more nervous than Susan had before things started. From the way that he couldn’t quite meet his opponent’s eye though, Harry had a feeling that had more to do with Susan than the actual event.

From the moment the round started, it was obvious that Susan would have an easy win. Deciding that was the opportune time to go and support Ron, too. He made his way over to his table and sidled up to Ginny, “How’s he doing?”

“Great so far… but according to this one.” She pointed her thumb over to Sigrid who was there with Tracey watching, “This is going to be his toughest match of the day.”

At Harry’s questioning look, the Danish girl explained, “Garik is a chess prodigy, everyone at Durmstrang knows it. He’s been playing since he was four and beating adults just as long. Supposedly, he enters muggle tournaments during his summers, too.”

“Ah… I can see where that could cause some problems.”  As good as Ron was, Harry couldn’t see him entering muggle tournaments because he enjoyed the game that much.  But I suppose it’s possible. We don’t know everything about one another.

Sigrid nodded, “We’re quite sure that he was the one who convinced Headmistress Hendricksen to hold the tournament.”

Still, none of that meant that Ron couldn’t hold his own. And he did. But by the end, it was obvious that Sigrid’s comments about Garik’s skill were fully warranted. Sacrificing his queen to a pawn, it created a hole in Ron’s defenses. He played rook to G5, check. Ron retreated with his king to H1, but Garik’s bishop took the pawn that started it all for checkmate.

Ron sat back in his seat, flabbergasted, before offering his hand. The two started talking through some of the moves together before they needed to get ready for the next round.

“Well,” Harry started to the three girls, “I have a feeling I know who’s going to win.” They all nodded their silent agreement as Harry made his way back toward Susan’s table. Fleur had joined the other girl after watching Gabrielle’s first round.

Given that Susan was already up and talking with her friends, it was obvious that she’d successfully dispatched the anxious lad. Before he reached them, he was confronted by someone he certainly wasn’t expecting, “Potter.”

“Malfoy.” Since his suspension, Draco kept his distance. Why couldn’t he just have kept it that way?

However, it didn’t seem like the blonde ponce was there to try antagonizing him… try being the operative word, “There’s something you should know.”

“Right… and what would that be?” Draco’s eyes flitted around the to the people watching the chess, but no one was paying them any mind. Even the girls hadn’t noticed their conversation as far as he could tell.

“I’ve overheard a certain conversation. It was of a less than savory nature and some mention was made of the two veela that you saved when…” he frowned before he managed to finish, “you fought and defeated my father.”

“Who?” There was an undercurrent of magic in that one word.

“I don’t know all involved, but Crabbe and Goyle appear to have been enlisted, which would lead me to believe that Nott has some part in it as well.” It appeared that Draco had no qualms about informing on his former lackies. Or at least, that was one possibility. The other is that he’s lying.

But then surely if the intent was to harm or ambush him in any way, there was one other important piece of information that Draco would know, “Any idea when they’ve planned this?”

“No,” Draco answered without hesitating, “I didn’t hear the whole of it, but I’d wager that it’ll happen soon.”

“And… why are you telling me this?” It wasn’t as though he needed to.

“My time spent back at home during my suspension was enlightening.” Draco admitted, as though each word had been measured more than once in his head, “I had several eye-opening conversation with my mother and her cousins.” He could only be referring to Sirius and Andromeda. Bellatrix is still locked away in prison, after all.

His explanation wasn’t what Harry was expecting, but it explained the change in behavior since he returned to Hogwarts. Harry nodded his head in acceptance, “Alright, I believe you. I appreciate the warning, Malfoy.” He didn’t expect the two of them would ever be friends, but he was willing to settle for civility between them.

“Potter,” Was his only recognition before he turned and left Harry to make his way back to Susan. Their conversation lasted long enough that her next round had begun. She was sitting down across from Gabrielle, and he could tell that having a familiar face in front of her put her at ease.

“Susan won ‘er last match, but I’m sure you already could’ve guessed zat.” Fleur told him as he slid in beside her. She turned to him, eyebrow quirked in confusion, “So what did ze blonde cretin want?”

He thought that none of them had noticed, but he should’ve known better with his girls, “He wanted to warn me about something.”

That made her snort out a laugh, “I didn’t think ‘e was ze sort to ‘ave your wellbeing in mind.”

“Me neither, seems he had a change of heart.” The words felt rather odd to say out loud, but there was at least some truth to them, “But it wasn’t my wellbeing he was warning me about” T

“What did he tell you?” It didn’t surprise him in the slightest that Daphne was eavesdropping.

“That he overheard a conversation, but that he doesn’t know who all was involved, and that someone intends to harm Anya and Orina.” He saw the way they both hardened at the news. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that every one of them was willing to defend the others.

“Zat will not ‘appen!” Despite her vehemence, she managed to control her volume.

“No, it won’t.” Harry agreed. He’d defended them twice when they needed it, and he’d do it as many more times as necessary. Something about his countenance was enough to put them at ease. He caught Susan glancing in their direction, and he offered her a smile to try and assure her  everything was alright, “Now, he couldn’t tell me when this was going to happen, so all we can do is be vigilant. But in the meantime, we’re here to support our friends.”

Even though he meant what he said, he couldn’t ignore the unpleasant feeling in his gut. Given how often he found himself in dangerous situations, he thought it unwise to mistrust it.

He found himself glancing back at the door and hoping that the two veela would walk through it. Unfortunately, that was unlikely considering their shifts in Hogsmeade wouldn’t be finished for some time yet.

Six more rounds came and went, and with each one that finished he found himself looking at the time. They should be finished soon. Harry was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn’t initially realize that Ron and Susan were playing one another.

The pair sat down at the table and shook hands. Susan was playing white and started with pawn to E4, and from there their match was off. For the first time since talking to Draco, Harry found himself fully invested in what was going on.

Of anyone he’d watched play that day, it seemed these two were the most evenly matched. They traded pieces early before falling into a sort of stalemate, and then finally reached the endgame. The unfortunate thing for Susan was that she was decidedly down on time.

“Queen to G7,” Susan’s queen ran across the board to stand in front of Ron’s king. The piece made a show of wiping the sweat from its brow thanks to the check.

“Knight to G7.” The queen was crushed under trampling hooves.

Before the debris had even settled, Susan countered with, “Rook to G7.” There were only two seconds left on the clock, and she nearly missed as she went to hit it.

“King to H8.” Ron retreated.

Susan’s next move was, “Rook to G8.” Which gave her a double discover check, and it was only then that Harry could see what she was trying to do. Unfortunately, she just didn’t have the time. As she went to hit the clock, she saw that it’d hit zero.

Ron breathed a sigh of relief, as did the king on the board, “You had me, you know?” He was actually excited at the prospect

“Mate in five by my reckoning,” Susan didn’t seem all that disappointed though if her smile was anything to go by.

“That was fun.” Ron raved, “We’ll have to play again sometime.”

“It’d give the likes of Hannah and Harry a bit of break.” Susan agreed.

Harry was just about to approach them when he felt something that he’d only ever felt once before. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, just like the first time. The girls grew just as uneasy, and Harry knew that he needed to go. Always trust your gut.

Without waiting to see if any of them even tried to follow, he bounded toward the Entrance Hall and then to the Enchanted Staircase. He prayed that they’d be waiting for him at the bottom and was infuriated when they weren’t. As he was forced to stand there and wait, he could feel his magic pushing him toward Anya and Orina.

As the staircase started to turn, his wand snapped into his hand and he tried to force it to move faster. Even his considerable magical ability wasn’t enough to overwhelm thousand-year-old enchantments though, so he took another route. Conjuring new stone beneath his feet, it was almost as if he were walking on air as he closed the distance between the first-floor landing and the staircase. There were people watching him, but he didn’t pay them any mind and just kept on running.

Racing up to the second, and then the third, he turned down the corridor and pushed himself as fast as he could toward the statue of the One-Eyed Witch. He was about to turn the corner when he felt a brand-new sensation. It was as though someone was drawing on his magic. Knowing, just by instinct, that it was Orina and Anya, he leaned into the feeling, freely giving as much of it as they needed.

Before he reached their room, he knew exactly what it was being used to do. The allure, stronger and more potent than he could ever remember feeling it, washed over him. It was palpable, almost like walking through the early morning haze.

The sight he was treated to as he finally found them would’ve been hysterical in any other situation. Anya and Orina stood over three people. If it weren’t for the tear on Orina’s sleave, it would’ve been difficult to guess that there’d been any confrontation at all. There was a ball of blinding fire resting in Anya’s hand. Their features were sharper than usual, more avian. They weren’t fully transformed as they had been when he first met them, but somewhere in between.

Of their three attackers, two of them were prone, shaking as though in perpetual ecstasy that had crossed over into pain.  It was Crabbe and Goyle, completely overcome by the allure. Tears streaked down their blank eyes, though they stopped even as he watched them lose consciousness. There was a pathetic dribble of entirely clear ejaculate staining the front of their trousers.

The third person wasn’t who Harry was expecting. Given what Draco told him, he thought he’d find Nott with them, but it was Roger Davies instead. Unlike the two hulking morons, Roger possessed some resistance to the allure. But that wasn’t enough to overcome the sheer force of it now.

He was on his knees, staring up at the ceiling as he twitched erratically. Unlike his two accomplices, he was still conscious, trying to reach for the girls. There was a pulse in the allure and Harry watched as he shook again and fell backwards.

If Harry weren’t bonded to the two girls, he wondered if his resistance would’ve been enough to fully overcome it. Luckily, he didn’t have to find out as he approached them at a sedate pace. They were so focused on the task at hand, they didn’t notice him until he spoke, “It’s alright…”

They snapped toward him, Anya raising her hand ready to throw fire and Harry didn’t even flinch. He had every confidence that neither of them would do anything to hurt him. His faith was rewarded as she took in his face. The allure dissipated in an instant, and both girls relaxed, “We knew you vere coming.” Orina said before both girls moved to hug him.

“Looks like you had things well in hand without me this time.” It was probably a good thing that he showed up though, because otherwise, there was a good chance that they’d have to explain why there were three dead students in the corridor.

Anya pulled back with a wide smile, “Yes, but you still came.”

They were distracted by the still conscious Roger struggling to his feet. Harry silently cast a stunner with far more strength than necessary. It splashed against his chest… and sent him hurtling toward the opposite wall in the process. If he were awake, it certainly would’ve been painful.

“Expecto Patronum.” His stag cantered from his wand, and bowed its head, “Professor Dumbledore, please come to the statue of the One-Eyed Witch.”

With the message sent, the three of them settled down to await the Headmaster’s arrival. With her head resting on his shoulder, Orina asked, “So, how’s Susan doing? Gabrielle? Ron?”

The question seemed surreal given there were three unconscious people on the floor. He was also rather curious how they’d known about the tournament and he hadn’t, but that was rather unimportant given the circumstances.  Harry couldn’t help but laugh before going into detail.

That was how Dumbledore found them a few minutes later. He frowned at the scene before looking to Harry. It spoke volumes of his time at Hogwarts that the elder wizard didn’t even seem surprised, “If you’d help get them to my office. It appears you have a rather interesting story to tell.”

Harry only hoped that it didn’t take too long. These three just aren’t worth wasting time on. From Dumbledore’s stony face, there was a good chance it was the last time he’d ever need to deal with them.

AN: Anybody wondering, yes, this chapter was at least partially inspired by the recent world's chess championship. I had it in my mind as a result.