Months passed by as we are nearing the final task date, which is on the 24th of June. The task is tomorrow and Fleur has already been briefed by the committee on what the next task will be, which is the maze. She said that the maze is long and wide, stretching from the end of the quidditch pitch to the other end, she said that the spectators won’t probably be able to see into the maze, as the wall is tall and and it hid the passageway from the watchers watching from the stands.

I’ve been preparing as well. Aside from Runing the heck out of Fleur’s clothing, I’ve also made some potions… well… for myself… this past couple of week, Fleur has been eyeing me like a hawk while I was working on her uniform, occasionally asking what rune I was working on. It’s honestly annoying, I can’t put some of my… own choices in her clothing. But well, I’ve been annoying her as well. I'm constantly drilling her on training, replacing our alone time that is usually filled with reading books, studying together, or lately some… intimacy… to duels.

“Stupefy!”

Fleur loudly shouted the incantation of the Stunner spell while her wand pointed at me, attending to knock me off the ground, but it’s so easy to dodge spells like this… I rolled around to the side before standing back up, I wanted to fire a spell, but decided against it.

“Alright, alright, stop.” I said to her in annoyance. “Can you not?”

Fleur looked at me in confusion. “What?”

“Do it seriously.” I said sternly. “D’you think death eaters will shout most of their spells?”

“But you said to take it easy?!” she refuted.

“That was months ago!” I said. “It’s serious now, don’t mess around Fleur.”

“You are so annoying these days.” she huffed. “Fine, I will not ‘old back anymore. Do not complain if your body aches tomorrow.”

“That goes for you as well.” I smirked, and Fleur scowled at the sight of my face. We raised our wands up and focused. Not a second later, Fleur’s wand flared up and it shot a blinding blue light towards me. I barely dodged it, and I could hear a loud explosion from behind me…

Alright… she’s pissed…

I quickly shot a stunner to her to probe her reaction, and she just straight up erased my spell using her wand. She flared up again, and this time, a fluorescent white light cut through the air.

I could see it, the movement of her wand, the color, the density of the spell, it’s obviously a severing charm. I conjured up a Protego charm and made the spell vanish. I threw a Silencio spell at her, but she dodged it.

I side-stepped, dodging her counter attack that I didn’t even know what it was and waved my wand, making an ‘u’ shape in the air, firing a severing charm at her. I didn’t think it would hit her to be honest, just enough to buy some time, and of course, it didn’t hit her, but it made her distracted a bit.

So, I pointed at the light around us and extinguished it, enveloping the entire Room of Requirement to darkness. Well, I’m affected as well, but as far as I know, she’s the one distracted, not me, I still remember where she was.

I moved from my previous spot and pointed at Fleur’s location. I waved my wand and a flash of red light burst from my wand, flying to Fleur.

While Fleur was frantically trying to find me, once she saw the red lights, she panicked, and it hit her, making her fly up ten feet in the air. She yelped, squirming as she felt her body flew up, I quickly turned the light on and casted an ‘Arresto Momentum’ at her, before grabbing her falling body.

“Really?! You turned off the light?” She looked at me while she was in my arms, still clinging at me, still a bit shocked.

“What? You always do it when you’re embarrassed.” I smirked at her, making her scowl.

“That is different!” she refuted in embarrassment. “We are in a duel!”

“So? All’s fair in love and war.” I chuckled, and she released her grip around my neck, standing back up, tidying up her robe.

“You always do dirty tricks when we are in a duel.” she frowned.

“And you always choose a high-powered spell.” I shrugged. “We have different styles. Go again?”

Fleur sighed and shook her head. “I am tired, let’s sit down for a while.”

“Fleur, the task is tomorrow…”

“You are too forceful this month.” Fleur complained as she walked towards the couch. “Let me rest…”

Fuck man… “Fine… d’you want me to comb your hair?”

Fleur laid down on the couch, but as soon as she heard my words, she frowned once again. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing, I just want to comb your hair.” I said innocently, transfiguring something to a comb. “So?”

“Non. you are too obvious.” she rolled her eyes. “Please just drop it Archie, don’t do anything, I can do it. It might not even happen, It might just be your paranoia, like your defense teacher you talked about…”

I sighed, sitting on the couch she was sleeping in, raising her legs so I could sit, before placing her legs on my lap, massaging it gently. “Alright then, what have you prepared for the task?”

“I ‘ave prepared a lot.” She said quietly, curling up on the couch, enjoying the massage I’m giving her. “Not to mention, my betrothed will make sure that I am well protected using ‘is awfully advanced runes that I cannot ever read.”

I chuckled. “I wanted to add some more things, but you prevented me from doing it.” I said. “Can I do it?”

“You ‘ave to tell me what you are going to place in it first, then I will allow you to do it.” she said calmly, closing her eyes as she moaned softly from the massage, her calves are quite stiff, she’s training hard it seems.

“Well, I want to place a spatial mark rune on your clothing, so I could be there at any time.” I explained. “So, am I allowed to, my lady?” I smirked at her cheekly, making her roll her eyes.

“And what can you do with that ‘spatial mark’ rune?” she asked. “Bring me to you? Or the other way around?”

“Both.” I shrugged, she moaned again from my skillful massage. “I will also place a warning rune in your clothing, sort of like a sneakoscope, if something happens, I will know.”

“You are trying to make my clothing an impenetrable fortress it seems.” she mused. She pulled her legs from my legs, making me release my grip on her calves. “Alright, that is enough, you will make me do something I will regret if you continue…”

I just smirked teasingly at her and asked. “So? Can I do it?”

Fleur sighed as she smiled weakly at me. “Fine… but promise me to not do something else… stupid things like asking me to give up and you replace me instead, it is not going to work…”

“Alright, I promise.” I said. “But… you have to promise me something too.”

“And that is?”

“Just… be safe…” I said, giving her a soft smile. “If you have a bad feeling, then don’t do it. If you think that something’s wrong, turn back, okay?”

Fleur looks like she wanted to ask something, but decided to stop. She smiled at me and nodded. “Okay Archibald… I will do as you say.”

I sighed in relief, thank god she didn’t ask more. “You trust me right?”

“Of course I trust you…” she murmured. She leaned towards me, slowly wrapping her arms around my neck, and kissed my lips passionately. I couldn’t see what was going on, my eyes were forcibly shut as I could feel her hair running down my cheeks, I could feel her straddling me, her hands caressing my neck as she nibbled my lip.

This kiss was different from any other kiss that she gave me, I could feel that she was… scared… anxious… worried… I couldn’t tell who she was anxious for, was she anxious for herself? Or for me? But there was one thing for sure, I could feel that she wanted to say more, but she decided to trust me, she gave up on convincing me not to do anything.

For a couple of minutes, we kissed. She doesn’t want to let go, everytime I try to release her grip she tightens back up, holding me ever closer. Once she was satisfied, she broke off the kiss, her cheek had a tint of redness, but she tried to fight off her embarrassment, instead staring at me deeply with her clear blue eyes.

“It’s late…” I softly murmured, caressing her gently. “You should go, you need to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Can I stay ‘ere?” she asked me, almost pleading.

“Fleur…” I only said her name, but that was enough to make her let go. She stood up from my lap, her face a bit disappointed and made room for me. Soon enough, I also stood up, my eyes looking down on her.

“Good night.” I said.

“Good night.” she said in English. She almost turned around, but decided against it, she pulled me down to her again, giving me a deep kiss, before releasing me, walking towards the door.

Once she left the room, I sighed. Tomorrow… I just hope that tomorrow will go well…

I turned towards her uniform that was sitting on the corner, waiting for me to rune it, and walked up to it, continuing my work.