A/N: Well, here I am again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last one-shot! You have effectively inspired me to continue writing. :) This is once again set to a Coldplay tune, this time it's "Shiver". I just use Coldplay a lot because they're my favorite band, and I find the sound of their music is inspiration to my life in general. Once again, no beta, I only read it over myself, so please excuse any mistakes you come across, or even let me know about them, so I can fix it up for future readers. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Harry Potter franchise, or else you would see Clemence Poesy and Emma Watson making out in a theatre near you. :) Also, the lyrics belong to Coldplay.

Fleur sighed as she gazed across the stone courtyard. After a quick glance up at the looming towers of Hogwarts castle she reverted her eyes back to the scene before her. Students were seen passing by, some staying to spend their Saturday off out in the crisp November breeze. The trees were nearly bare, hordes of leaves covering the ground as the English countryside prepared itself for the winter ahead. All the blazing autumn colors were fading to brown, nature's last attempts at life being dampened by the oncoming gloom of the snowy season. Surprisingly, this reflected the Veela's mood as she sat perched on a bench surrounded by her fellow Beauxbaton friends. Normally in high spirits, Fleur's mindset had taken a turn downwards. As she sighed again, ignoring the incessant babbling of those nearby, the cause of this change in heart entered in through one of the courtyard's elaborate archways in the form of a young brunette, clad in black robes and a red and gold striped scarf. Her untamed hair blew around her in a frenzy, her chocolate orbs set on the two boys next to her, a lanky redhead and a slightly shorter boy with jet black hair.

Fleur watched as the trio made their way across the courtyard, deep in conversation. She simply sat there admiring how the girl's face reacted to the words that the redhead was saying. How it flickered up into an occasional smile, or how her brow furrowed and her nose scrunched up when something was said to her distaste. Letting out yet another sigh, Fleur watched as they made their exit through the opposing archway, and continued on into the depths of the castle. Fleur could never remember a time when she felt this way about another person. Sure, growing up in France there were always the young suitors coming to make attempts at gaining her affection, but she had never held any interest in them for long. They had always been the ones vying for her attention, and she was faced with some conflict, because now, she was the one looking to get noticed.

So I look in your direction,

But you pay me no attention, do you?

I know you don't listen to me,

Cause you say you see straight through me, don't you?

She had learned from others that the girl's name was Hermione Granger. Such an English name, but Fleur came to find it endearing, instead of the usual repulsion. It's not like she hadn't tried speaking to the girl, because Fleur was never one to back down from a challenge. The problem was that Hermione seemingly had no interest in the fact that Fleur even existed, which was not something the French beauty was used to, and was not handling it very well. She knew she came off with a certain 'air' about her, looking haughty and aloof to most others, but that wasn't all there was to her, there was a side that many others didn't know existed, and one she wished Hermione would get the chance to see.

The memory of their first contact haunted Fleur's mind like a childhood nightmare. On the night of her arrival, Fleur had been far too occupied to have noticed anything in particular, and just sat with her classmates taking everything in. It was because of her friend, Emilie, that Fleur first became aware of the younger vixen's presence. Emilie, picky in her eating, had refused to try any dish that was not solely French, so when her table ran out of her favorite food, bouillabaise, she implored Fleur to go ask for some more, too shy to do so herself. Still in awe over the mere size of everything that was Hogwarts, Fleur rose from her seat without a second thought, and made her way to the nearest table. As she approached, she became stricken with many things: attraction, fear, apprehension, but first and foremost, confusion. Her eyes had locked on to Hermione, although not knowing her name at the time, and she had been sent on a path to which there was no return. Deciding to hide all these conflicting emotions for the time being, Fleur put on a cool exterior and continued on to the Gryffindor table.

After asking for the dish, she was met with three things, the latter of which being the only thing she had really paid any mind to: A redhead with freckles gaping at her with food still in his mouth, face rapidly turning purple, a smaller boy with black hair, emerald eyes and a small scar sheepishly looking up at her, and the brunette herself politely giving her attention, with a not-so-polite scowl marring her features. Left hurt, although she would not show it, Fleur made her way back to Emilie and the others, lost in thought for the remainder of the evening.

--

Raindrops hitting her face brought Fleur back to reality. It had started to rain, and the courtyard was quickly becoming deserted. Her friends had already started leaving when one turned back.

"Fleur?"

Fleur glanced up and waved them on, figuring that some time alone would only do her good. Not wishing to get drenched in the downpour she hiked her bag up over her shoulder and stepped through an archway to begin roaming the hallways. She didn't know why Hermione had acted so resentful towards her, they didn't even know each other. Under normal circumstances, Fleur would have thought nothing of it, and would have quickly dismissed the incident and moved on. But to Fleur, something about Hermione was just the opposite of that, not normal at all. Somewhere in the deep recesses of her soul, she knew it was more than some silly schoolgirl crush. And she was determined to somehow let Hermione know exactly how she felt.

And on and on,

From the moment I wake, to the moment I sleep,

I'll be there by your side, just you try and stop me.

I'll be waiting in line just to see if you care.

Another month passed, and Fleur had yet to again speak to Hermione. She had merely taken to shadowing the younger girl's footsteps whenever she could, and liked spending a fair amount of time simply watching her from afar. She knew Hermione was caught up in the stereotype, that Fleur was a cold heartless bitch who always gets whatever she wants, and most times Fleur gave in to the judgement, allowing herself to openly act the part. She knew that time had to soon come to a close, she needed to act like the person she was, not who everyone expected her to be. For herself, but more importantly, for Hermione. She wanted the brunette to no longer have a reason to scoff whenever they passed, and was beginning to become emotionally drained from being the target of the Gryffindor's silent scorn.

Oh! Did you want me to change?

Well I changed for good.

I want you to know that you'll always get your way.

I wanted to say...

When talks of a Christmas ball surfaced, Fleur knew that it was an opportune time to put her plans into action. She would not be as forward as to ask the younger girl out, but instead of taking the most handsome guy around to the ball, she would take whoever she wanted. She ended up taking a boy named Roger Davies. He was a Quidditch captain, but was not overly attractive, and could actually make small talk with Fleur, which to her was a big improvement from just... staring and drooling. The entire night of the ball, however, Roger's talks of Quidditch and his team were lost in Fleur's ears, as her heart burned with envy to see the object of her desires being gracefully twirled around the dance floor by that Bulgarian oaf. She attempted to reprimand herself, not wanting to come off looking sour to the rest of the school's population. Although she was letting down her guard as a French snob, she still had the title of Triwizard champion to live up to. She then lost herself in just staring at Hermione, under a guise of admiring the crowd in general, with a look in her eyes that would have her younger sister taunting her for being such a lovesick fool.

Don't you shiver, shiver,

Sing it loud and clear,

I'll always be waiting for you.

Aside from her dilemma with Hermione, Fleur's life at Hogwarts was fairly... easy. It took her a while to adjust to the different courses she had to take that Beauxbatons didn't offer. One such course was Arithmancy, which Fleur found to be her hardest course and therefore had taken the course that most fifth and sixth years take instead of the one at seventh year level. After the holidays were over, Fleur walked into her Arithmancy class to be blown away with utter shock. There in the seat next to her that was normally vacant, sat none other than Hermione Granger. Without thinking to conceal her surprise at the younger girl's presence she walked over to where Hermione sat digging through her bag.

"What are you doing 'ere?"

Hermione's gaze darted up to the blonde and she sat there, mouth slightly open for a second or two, until she regained her composure and the all-too-familiar scowl once again took its place.

"Well I'm attending Arithmancy class by the looks of it."

Fleur had no idea what to make of the other girl's hesitation, and therefore decided to drop all pretenses and try making conversation.

"Sorry to 'ave been so blunt. I seemply was wondering what you were doing in zis particular class, seeing as eet is meant for older students."

Hermione simply stared for a second or two, perhaps wondering whether to snap out a retort or politely answer the question.

She finally went with "I spent my first term in the beginner class but Professor Vector decided to step me up into this class instead of continuing in the other one."

"Hmm. Zat is very impressive you know"

"I know."

The silence that continued seemed to stretch on for a long time, leaving Fleur to reflect on their exchange and wonder for what seemed like the millionth time how the other girl felt towards her. Was it hate? It sure seemed like some sort of intense dislike. Or maybe Hermione was jealous of Fleur, that was how it was for most girls, but there was a nagging voice in Fleur's head that reminded her that Hermione was not like other girls, so jealousy was rather low on the list of possibilities. Even lower on said list, was the option that Fleur didn't even dare to hope for. That Hermione secretly had a thing for the French temptress and was using resentment as a way to cover her emotions.

This train of thought which would usually send Fleur off into blissful daydreams about the girl sitting next to her was put to an abrupt halt by Professor Vector entering the classroom and beginning to talk about their next assignment. Apparently there was to be an essay due on a rather obscure topic of Arithmancy, and Fleur, being an exchange student, was allowed to work with a partner.

"Better yet Fleur," Professor Vector continued, "Why don't you work with Hermione? She's new to the class so I think it would work best if you two completed the assignment together."

Much to her surprise, Hermione didn't object. She just sat there in silence. Fleur, on the other hand, was inwardly jumping for joy at the prospect of spending more time with the fiery brunette.

"Is that alright with you Miss Delacour?"

"Non, pas de probleme Professor."

Out of the corner of her eye, Fleur saw a pair of eyebrows being raised at how cheerful her tone had become with that last statement. Turning to face her, she saw a look of bewilderment on the other girl's face.

"Really?" The question fell from Hermione's mouth before she had a chance to stop it.

"Oui, really, and I very much look forward to eet." Fleur winked cheekily and flashed the brunette a smile before she lost the rest of her momentary confidence.

As if Fleur hadn't found the day's events to be confusing enough, she was met with further amazement as Hermione's reaction to Fleur's flirting was to blush furiously and bow her head down towards the desk in embarrassment. Fleur would find herself revisiting this moment many times over the next few days, striving to find out what Hermione's motives truly were.

So you know how much I need you,

But you never even see me, do you?

And is this my final chance of getting you?

The meetings with Hermione for the essay were for the most part uneventful. Whatever dislike the younger girl may have had for the blonde had been set aside, and their conversation was fairly light aside from the subject of Arithmancy, with Fleur asking most of the questions, and Hermione providing polite answers. This was their system, and was set as the way things were between them. Fleur was sure that Hermione had gotten past her pre-conceived notions of her being stuck up, and perhaps had an interest to get to know the older girl. Sightings of the other in the hallways had turned from complete indifference on Hermione's part and Fleur's look of doubtful hope, to a small smile from Hermione to a glowing Fleur, who always sent the brunette a dazzling display of even, white teeth.

One night, as twilight fell into place on the castle grounds, Fleur and a certain Gryffindor girl were tucked away into a corner of the library, finishing up what looked to both to be a very promising essay. As Hermione wrote the finishing touches to their conclusion, Fleur couldn't help but to take advantage of the possibility that this could be the last night they spent in the other's company.

"'Ermione, you are not like ze ozzer girls 'ere."

The quill paused in its scratching on the parchment, and Hermione's now guarded eyes rose to meet Fleur's gaze.

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean zat you are not like ze ozzer girls I 'ave come to know 'ere at 'Ogwarts. Most of zem are very rude to me because zey are jealous over ze way I look, or because I am from somewhere different, no matter 'ow much I try to be friends wiz zem. You, on ze ozzer 'and, will actually talk to me, and at least don't seem to 'ate me."

Hermione took a minute or two to ponder what the blonde had just said, with an expression on her face as if to say she was fighting some sort of internal battle, not sure which way to go with a response.

"Ummm... Thanks I guess.. I do owe you an apology... I wasn't exactly nice to you in the beginning.. I guess I've learned my lesson on judging others. But I do know I'm not like most of the girls here, I'm pretty much.. an outcast. They don't like me because I do better in class than they do, and I don't take the time to dress myself up to their standards and make myself look as pretty as they all are."

"Well eet is zeir loss. You are very pretty in my eyes."

This time, Fleur was not so surprised to see the blood rush to Hermione's face. The brunette chose not to respond this time, and reverted back to finishing the essay. Fleur took this for neither good nor bad, and simply smiled, content with their interaction.

Sing it on and on...

From the moment I wake, to the moment I sleep,

I'll be there by your side, just you try and stop me.

I'll be waiting in line, just to see if you care, if you care.

Things went back much to the way they were, except the smiles stayed the same. At every passing in the hallway they exchanged a smile, although Hermione's was more sheepish, whereas Fleur's was full of happiness and hidden adoration. Fleur's friends had noticed the change in her attitude. No longer did she look down her nose at other people, or make snobby remarks about how much the castle and it's atmosphere didn't suit her. They made slight remarks about it every now and again, but she paid them no attention, nothing mattered to her except Hermione. Her Hermione. The tasks of the tournament were only second on her list of mental priorities.

Oh! Did you want me to change?

Well I changed for good.

And I want you to know that you'll always get your way.

I wanted to say...

--

Winter melted into spring, and the surrounding forest was teeming with new life and the promises of another good year. Birds flittered to and fro, and insects flew about in a frenzy to establish their colonies and build new homes. The sun shone brightly down on the castle grounds bringing a new light to everything around and also fell upon a head of golden hair like a halo, illuminating the girl's immaculate features. Fleur was leant up against a tree, sitting in the newly grown grass reading a book in the cool springtime air. Her attention was soon drawn from the text spread out before her by the sound of laughter floating across the grounds and reaching her ears. A laugh that she recognized at once, as it belonged to none other than the girl who had captured her heart from the moment their eyes met. Looking up, Fleur saw the girl crossing the grounds, heading to the gamekeeper's hut with her two friends, giggling together at a joke of some sort. Their lines of sight crossed, and Hermione, as expected, gave her sheepish smile, but also, as not-so-expected, gave a small wave. Fleur raised her hand in reply as her heart gleefully skipped a beat, and she flashed her radiant smile.

Don't you shiver, shiver,

Sing it loud and clear,

I'll always be waiting for you.

Fleur's feelings for the other girl had only grown stronger throughout the course of the year, but she had been extremely careful in their time together to not let too much emotion show, as she figured it would only prove to scare her away. Although the day of returning to France loomed ever closer, Fleur was happy to know that the foundations for a friendship had been laid, no matter how much she wanted more. And would always want more of Hermione. There was still plenty of time to get to know the other girl, and throw out subtle hints at her affection for her.

So, I'll always be waiting for you...

The French witch constantly cherished the time she spent with her English counterpart. She adored the brunette's compassionate ways, no matter how stubborn it made her. She also discovered that the girl was extremely insecure about what others thought about her, even though she never really talked about it, and put up the air of indifference. But Fleur had enough insight to see past the brainy bookworm exterior and see the person Hermione really was inside. This had done nothing to distract Fleur from her affection, but had only added to it, giving her genuine feelings instead of just having lust mixed with the feelings of care and concern.

Yeah I'll always be waiting for you...

Before the end of the year, Fleur hoped to take her friendship with Hermione to a level where it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to write to each other throughout the summer. She was determined to leave some sort of lasting impression on the girl, so if the chance ever arose where they would spend more time together, the fond memories Hermione might have of Fleur wouldn't be forgotten.

Yeah I'll always be waiting...

A little while later, as the noontime sun was waning, the trio emerged from the hut, and made their way back to the castle, Hermione focusing only on her companions, not noticing Fleur this time around. As with that day in the courtyard, Fleur simply watched as she walked across the grounds, her heart yearning for the brunette's attention.

And it's you I see, but you don't see me.

And it's you I hear, so loud and so clear.

Sing it loud and clear,

I'll always be waiting for you...

The day finally came when the carriage was packed, and the students from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were leaving to head back to their native countries. The Entrance Hall of the castle was packed with students who were looking to say goodbye to the foreign friends they had made. Fleur came to the realization that she hadn't made any friends during her stay, save for Hermione, and the other girl probably didn't even consider her a close friend at all. Speaking of which, Hermione was no where to be found. Fleur made her way through the throngs of students, some smiling, some in tears, creating a bittersweet mood that hung in the air like a humid fog. She stopped short in her tracks as she found her target talking to Viktor Krum, then leaning in for a goodbye hug. She let go of the older boy, and went back to her friends. The three of them stood on the edge of the scene, observing the interactions taking place in front of them. Fleur deemed it was now necessary for more drastic action.

So I look in your direction,

But you pay me no attention

And you know how much I need you

But you never even see me.

Fleur adjusted her position, walking a little further into Hermione's sight, and she was finally rewarded with Hermione's chestnut gaze locking on to her silvery orbs. Hermione spoke aside to her friends, and began walking over to the older girl. Fleur set a resolve in her mind that it was now or never if she ever hoped to capture Hermione's attention again. She quickly strode to meet Hermione and as the younger girl slightly parted her mouth in an attempt to voice a goodbye Fleur moved right in and captured the brunette's lips with her own. She felt Hermione freeze in shock, so she took it a small step further and put her arms around the Gryffindor in a loving embrace, not yet breaking the kiss. Hermione finally relaxed a little bit, and didn't push Fleur away. Her arms were frozen halfway between hanging limply at her sides and from taking a spot on either side of the blonde's hips.

After a moment, Fleur stepped back to observe Hermione's extremely bewildered expression and flushed face and merely leaned in to whisper to her ear, "Au Revoir, mon amour."

Fleur knew that Hermione's knowledge of the french language was extensive enough for her to absorb what had just been said, and with a sly smile she turned on her heel and strode out the front doors of the castle, climbed into the carriage, and settled in for the long ride home.

Hope you liked it!! PLEASE read and review... reviews make my life complete. I also left this open for a possible continuation. Let me know what you think.