Written for 'The New FEMMESLASH Pairings Challenge!' of the HPFFC-Forum.

My pairing and prompt was: Fleur Delacour/Madam Maxime; „understand"

Disclaimer: No copyright infringements intended!

Characters: Fleur Delacour / Madame Maxime

Genre: Romance/Angst

Rating: K+

Words: 1.227

A/N: Okay, I had to get me a glass of French wine, give my cousin in Lyon a call and actually go out in the garden, star-gazing to be able to do this. It was quite tough... but after all that's what I wanted. ;) Ooh, and I just noticed this is SUCH a Mary-Sue thing! ...well, except for the love-scene-with-a-half-giant-thing... xD

Sorry for possible grammar-, spelling-, punctuation-mistakes! It could happen that, while reading this you'll be like 'ah...what?' – English is not my first language, so... I'm honestly sorry...

~*~One moonlit Night~*~

Fleur Delacour sat on a small stone bench on the wide meadows of Beauxbatons. It was already dark night and the sky was peppered with stars. The beautiful girl pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. A deep, melancholic sigh escaped her tempting lips and Fleur let her eyes travel over the grounds. The silver moonlight kissing the rich grass let the whole scene appear like an impression in a fairytale.

The blonde student had been sitting in this place for so many nights in the past years... she couldn't believe that after this year was over she wouldn't come back to enjoy the nightly beauty of her school anymore. Had it really been such a long time? Seven whole years? Now that she was thinking about it, the whole time she had spent in Beauxbatons felt only like a month at the most. Now she had no clue what to do with the rest of her life. Here in school she was somebody, she has never had problems, neither to get friends nor with getting the best grades. Truth be told, that may depended partially or more on her ancestry... But would that be of any help on her further path?

"Mademoiselle Delacour?", a woman's voice suddenly broke the line of Fleur's thoughts. The young girl jumped a little as she had not expected to meet somebody out here at such a time. Looking over her shoulder she found the headmistress standing behind her. Relieved Fleur sighed, "Madame Maxime, comment allez-vous?" The much taller woman smiled softly as she said, "Chérie, didn't you plan on moving to England aftair school? You should do more practiz" The student nodded grinning. That had been her only idea about what to do after school and she'd told it only her compassionate teacher. Overall it was actually a silly idea, even if she would make it to England she wouldn't know what to do there anyway...

Olympe Maxime had helped the stunning young woman already a lot during her time at Beauxbatons. The older woman had always been kind and affectionate towards her, though some would have had to take a closer look to notice this.

"Madame...", Fleur started, her dreamy blue eyes drifting back to the skies, losing themselves in the star's bright shine. In French she whispered, "... I don't know for sure anymore.." Frowning Olympe sat down on a large stone bench next to Fleur's smaller one and asked, also in her first language, "What do you mean, you don't know it anymore?" Fleur just sighed dramatically and let her legs tingle down the bench. She shrugged her shoulders and fixed her gaze upon the tips of her shoes.

Suspicious Madame Maxime scooted a little closer to her student and tenderly she asked, "A crises, child? I know that from myself... Don't look so surprised!" The headmistress laughed softly at the blonde's shocked expression. "Madame, are you really trying to tell me, you too had doubts about what your life should become like?", Fleur asked disbelieving, but the half-giant nodded. Sincerely Olympe went on, "Of course... almost everyone has such a time in their lives. Seven years you have been a student and you got used to being just that, but now the world awaits you with open arms and millions of difficult choices. That, my dear, is the difference between being a child and being an adult." Caught up in the topic Fleur asked desperately, "How did you manage to make the right decision? How did you know what the ri-" "I didn't know... you will never know until you give it a try", Madame Maxime answered outright.

For a few minutes the two women sat in silence and watched as the soft breeze caressed the wild flowers around them. Eventually Olympe raised her voice anew, "Trust me... deep within your heart you know it already. This is one of the rare times in life when you shouldn't judge only with your brain but listen to what your heart has to say on the subject. You will most probably spend many, many years walking the way you have to choose now – therefore it should please you" Knowing the older woman was right Fleur nodded.

All of a sudden the girl got up and began pacing back and forth. Uneasily she mumbled, "Life has been easy on me. Everything just went my way without me having to fight for it... what if that was only because people are attracted to me? And what if this won't help me at all when I have graduated? ...or worse, what if I will never get the chance to learn to know life the way a young person should have to only because I keep bewitching them" and in a whisper she added, "with my looks" Smiling Olympe shook her head slightly, "Oh my... You have to understand, it's not only your looks. You always get by so easily because you are very smart and you have a good heart... Madem-... Fleur... you are a very special woman, don't miss that fact just because you are blessed with outer beauty too" Fleur stopped in her tracks and stood before her teacher. Doubtfully she searched the woman's eyes for the truth and apparently it was offered to her openly.

However her mind has already wandered off into a different region as she asked, "And... what if I had an idea on what I truly want, but was not entirely sure about it?" "Then", the headmistress said, "then you'll have to jump into the cold water. Sometimes you have to give an idea a try before you either decide to go for it or abandon it completely. Who knows? Maybe it would be the only right thing for you to do and if you wouldn't even consider doing it you might just miss the time of your life" She turned her head slightly to the side to look into the big, blue eyes of her student, a reassuring smile on her lips. Even when Olympe was sitting and Fleur was standing upright in front of her, the teacher didn't need to look up.

In this moment Fleur was grateful Madame Maxime wasn't able to read her thoughts. Though... what if she was right? What if Fleur would make a terrible mistake by letting a chance pass by? Abandoning herself to an impulse she flung herself at the perplexed woman sitting before her, pressing her lips eagerly onto Olympe's. The taste of the dry red wine the headmistress has had after dinner still lingered on her lips and its daring sweetness bewitched Fleur's mind in a most pleasant way. Suddenly the girl realised what she was doing and pulled back swiftly. Shocked she opened and closed her mouth like a fish, stuttering, "Madame... I'm sorry, I just – I'm so sorry" But Madame Maxime just shook her head and whispered, "Don't be..."

A strange silence fell over the women. Olympe sighed and titled her head, searching the student's eyes. When Fleur dared to look up again she met a kind and endearing gaze and instantly she felt at ease. Maybe, she thought, just maybe... and eventually Fleur leant in for another tender kiss. As her hands entangled in the other woman's hair she knew, it certainly wouldn't be the last they shared...

~*~Fin~*~

I wanted to keep up the 'French-mood' I tried to force myself into by drinking this wine and ...I think I'm a little drunk by now... I hope I didn't write any nonsense or crap. Thinking I'm doing well and in reality the document reads only ' uhfd?kisl hhd' xD