Title: Never Lost

Rating: Pg-13

Pairing: Fleur/Hermione

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Summary: All Fleur ever wanted was to be with Hermione, but she was shot down. It is now their sixth year and Fleur's moved on, but she notices that Hermione is acting very strangely...

Background Story: Fleur is muggle born and she moved to England with her father when her parents got a divorce when she was six. She is in the same year and house as Hermione.

A/N: This chapter's a lot longer than I originally planned it to be, but ideas just kept hitting me and I was up until 2:30 in the morning writing. I'm quite happy with the way this chapter has turned out, and hope you guys like it! Feedback would be wonderful!

It was Thursday night of the first week of term. Hermione leaned closer to her book, trying to tune out the loud ruckus of the common room. Fred and George Weasely were gone, but two new jokesters had happily filled in their place, a couple of fourth years named Jeremiah Plum and Travis Crosley. There was a large group of people gathered around the pair as they told crude jokes.

"What's the difference between strange pussy and strange apple pie?" Travis asked the crowd of people.

There was a chorus of "What?"

"You can eat strange apple pie without being afraid!"

The crowd cracked up, though some of the younger students looked confused and did not laugh. Aghast, Hermione threw down her book and went over to the boys. "You do not make those kinds of jokes in the common room. It is completely inappropriate for the younger students!" she reprimanded.

"What're you going to do about it, Granger?" Jeremiah said. He nudged Travis and gave her a wicked grin. "It's not like you can give us detention."

Eyes narrowed, Hermione crossed her arms and laughed hollowly. At least the Weasely twins had some resemblance of class, unlike these boys.

"She can't give you detention, but she can report you to me, who actually can give you detention. With any teacher I want…like Professor Snape for instance." Matthew threatened, popping up out of nowhere. "So I suggest that you listen to your house prefects from here on out."

Jeremiah and Travis glared at the pair before storming across the common room, into the corner farthest away from where Hermione and Matthew were standing. Hermione turned to the blond, her body stiff and unwelcoming. "Thank you," she said more out of politeness than anything else.

Matthew nodded and grinned. "No problem. If those two give you any more trouble, let me know and I'll take care of it."

"Okay," was Hermione's only response. She was irritated that he was undermining her authority when just last year, he was a regular prefect himself. She was perfectly capable of handling these types of situations without any help.

"I'll see you later, Hermione." Giving her one last, charming smile, he went and returned to the table where he and Fleur were doing their homework together.

Hermione stared at the back of Fleur's blonde head for a moment (she never turned around), before going back to her own chair to resume her reading homework. From her position, she could see the blond couple clearly. Fleur was leaning over a piece of parchment, no doubt working on Snape's Sirens essay, but Matthew had no books open, and he was simply staring at Fleur with a glazed over look of bliss. She wanted to rip that stupid grin right off his face.

"Does she have any veela blood in her?" Ron asked, noticing where Hermione was staring. "Because Vaughn seems like he's under some kind of trance."

"No, Ronald, she's muggle born, remember? She can't have any veela blood," she said, feeling extremely annoyed at the sight of the two.

"Are you sure?" he asked thoughtfully. "There's just something about her…" He continued to stare for a moment before shaking his, as though he had fallen into some kind of trance as well.

"It's called natural beauty," she said rather wistfully.

Ron stared at her. "I dunno, Hermione, I think she might have some veela in her. Because that would explain why you're always staring at her."

Slamming her book shut once again, Hermione leaned forward angrily. "I amnot always staring at her!" she huffed.

"Yes, you are!"

"I am not!" To outside ears, their bickering sounded childish and immature, so she leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and sighed irritably.

Shaking his head in surrender, Ron changed the topic to something much more neutral. "Can you read over my Sirens essay for me? I've actually worked hard on this one, would be a shame if I don't do well."

"Of course you work hard on an essay about Sirens. They're as beautiful as veelas."

"What?"

"I'll check it tomorrow morning," Hermione said, while she gathered up her books. "I'm going to bed now."

"But it's only 9:30," Ron said disbelievingly.

"I've had a long day," she answered truthfully. "Good night."

Throwing her dormitory door shut, Hermione dropped her bag next to her dresser and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face deep into her soft pillow. She had had a long week, which consisted mainly of school work and trying to find Fleur so she could talk to her. All summer Hermione had wanted to see the girl so desperately. She even wrote her two letters in July, telling the blonde everything she was feeling. But she never received any response.

Over the months, she had finally realized her feelings for the other girl. But Fleur never gave her a chance to explain. Where was that girl who listened to everything Hermione had to say, who listened to every worry about school work or her declining relationship with her parents, to every complaint about Ron or Professor Snape, to every dream she had, to every mindless rant…where was that girl? It was difficult to comprehend why feelings of attraction could complicate things so much. Before Fleur, Hermione had never felt so comfortable with a person; Fleur was that one person she could tell anything and everything to, could be in any kind of mood without being judged. She could simply be herself around the other girl, no walls, no barriers. Never did she realize that these were feelings of love coursing through her…until it was too late that is. It was the one thing that haunted Hermione every day: being too late to tell Fleur how she felt. And now…well now, Fleur's moved on, away from their old friendship and away from her romantic feelings for the brunette. Hermione, who had always gotten along with Matthew (intelligent, nice, charming, what's not to like?) when they were performing prefect duties together, now hated the boy. Never too prone to jealousy, Hermione was shocked at how the green monster took over her entire being when she found out about Fleur and Matthew. Their first day of term, she had returned to their dormitory to find Fleur not there and have Lavender tell her that she was spending the night in Matthew Vaughn's room. The perky blonde giggled when she said this.

"You know, because head boy gets his own room," she had clarified.

Scowling, Hermione had changed quickly and climbed into bed, fastening the scarlet curtains shut before she let the tears fall.

Here she was now, missing her best friend, and filled with regret at not taking the opportunity to be with the woman she was in love with when she had the chance. All week she had tried to talk to Fleur, but the blonde had avoided her. Hermione was ready to give up at this point. It was obvious that the girl hated her, so it would do her well to stay out of the way.

The door creaked open, someone came inside, and then they shut the door quietly. Soft footsteps approached Hermione's bed, and she automatically knew whose they were. Fleur's stride was always so quiet when compared to the thundering steps of Lavender and Parvati.

"Hermione?" the naturally husky voice of Fleur said tentatively, in case Hermione was asleep.

"So now you want to talk to me?" she said irritably, sitting up and smoothing out her hair with her hand.

"Well, yeah, now that I've got something to say," Fleur said coldly.

"It's all about what you want, isn't it?" Hermione was angry with the girl in front of her. All summer she had wanted to talk to her, but Fleur would have none of it. And now, only when Fleur felt like they should have an actual conversation, did they speak to each other.

"I'm feeling rather selfish right now, so yeah," she said rather cruelly.

"What happened to you, Fleur? Why are you being like this?" Hermione was desperate to know what was going on in the other girl's head.

"Nothing happened, I'm still the same old Fleur."

"I find that hard to believe," she scoffed.

"You just don't deserve to see it," the blonde sneered.

Wincing at her words, Hermione stood up an approached the taller girl. "What did I do? What did I do to deserve this? I turned you down? Well, I'm sorry, but in no way did that merit the verbal abuse you put me through last year, or the silent treatment you're putting me through this year!"

"I'm over you, Hermione, I'm just pissed about all the time I wasted on you." Fleur's expression was stone cold.

The argument sounded weak to Hermione, so she replied by saying, "That is such bullshit, Fleur!" Normally, she was not one to swear, but right now seemed to call for the occasion. Her heart was beating rapidly, and she felt a mixture of anger and love for the girl in front of her. "You're over me? Fine! Why can't we just be friends again then?"

"Because I don't want to be your friend again!" she exclaimed, her face growing red.

Hermione looked, and felt, like she had been slapped. This was worse than the silent treatment she had been receiving this past week. At least she could entertain ideas that Fleur might still be in love with her if she went through the trouble of avoiding her, but now, with such an open declaration, Hermione felt her world almost begin to crumble in. But not quite yet, because when Fleur said this, there was a flash in her icy blue eyes, a flash of regret, so quick that if Hermione had not been staring so intensely at her face, she would have missed. And this gave her hope.

"I don't believe you." Her voice now soft, her previous fury evaporated and replaced with the tingly feeling she always got whenever she was physically close to Fleur.

"No?" There was something in her eyes that was breaking.

Hermione shook her head. "No." She touched the back of Fleur's hand with her cool fingertips, caressing the warm skin with her light touch. "I miss you, Fleur…I just want you back." Her voice was nearly a whisper now.

"Hermione…please don't…please don't do this to me again." There she was; that vulnerable girl Hermione knew and loved, the girl who put on such a brave face for others, but fell apart when it was just the two of them. "I can't go through this again."

"Why can't we just forget the past? I love you, Fleur," Hermione finally admitted.

The hardened look returned to her eyes and she jerked her hand away from the brunette's, taking a shaky step back. "Don't say that," she said, her voice rising in volume. "Do not ever say that!"

"But it's true! I do love you!"

"Shut up, just shut up!" She had backed herself into the wall next to the door by this point, eyes wide and scared. To Hermione, it seemed that the other girl was having some sort of internal battle, but she was not sure.

"Fleur…" She began to slowly approach the cowering blonde. When she reached out a hand to touch her shoulder, Fleur screamed, "No, don't touch me!"

"What's wrong?" Hermione wondered, jerking her hand back, startled at Fleur's scream.

There was no response for a moment and then finally, she said, "I have to go now. Matt's waiting downstairs for me." She looked like she was fighting to hold something back.

There again was that painful stab of jealousy. "Fleur, wait!" Hermione said.

Halfway out the door, Fleur hesitated and turned around. "Please stay away from me." Her voice was so monotonous, so lifeless that Hermione was taken aback. She said nothing as the younger girl left, listening to her quiet steps recede down the staircase.

She was getting somewhere, she realized. Whatever Fleur felt for her, it was not hatred, and Hermione could sense the girl's inner turmoil. She had screamed at her not to tell her she loved her, and she was terrified to let Hermione touch her…that had to mean something, didn't it? However, she would not go as far as to believe Fleur still had feelings for her…she could not let herself hope for that much because it would crush her if her hope proved false.

"Good moooorning," Fleur cooed into Hermione's ear. "Time to wake up."

Sighing at the pleasurable sensation of the blonde's breath against her ear, Hermione turned over so that she was lying on her back. "Fleur?" she said groggily, holding a hand against her mouth, self-conscious of morning breath.

"Yes?"

Pause. "Why are you in my bed?"

Stretching out languidly, the blonde drawled, "Because it's so much more comfortable than mine."

"We have the same kind of mattress," Hermione said matter-of-factly before rolling over to go back to sleep.

"There's no going back to sleep now." She gently prodded the bundled up form.

"Why not?" Hermione responded crankily. "Breakfast isn't for another two hours."

"Because it's your birthday!" the blonde said brightly.

"I think you're more excited than I am," she muttered into the pillow, wrapping the comforter more firmly around her body.

"Yeah, probably," Fleur agreed. "Now wake up!"

"You're not serious."

"I am, though I suppose it wouldn't be so bad lying in bed with you for another two hours…but that's beside the point."

Hermione groaned. "It is far too early for you to flirt with me, Fleur. At least wait until after my shower."

"Can you please get out of bed now?"

"Why?"

"I've got a surprise for you."

"I hate surprises," Hermione reminded her. Slowly, she began to become more awake as the other girl spoke to her. This was usually Fleur's technique to get Hermione out of bed early, which happened far too often for her liking: keep a conversation going with her.

"I know, but I think you'll like this one."

"I hate you."

"I love you too, sunshine, now get out of bed or we're going to miss it."

"In case it's escaped your notice, there is no sunshine yet; it's barely six am." Flipping back over, she let herself soak comfortably in the warmth the other girl's body offered.

"Yeah, which is why we need to get going," Fleur bounced happily.

"If you're going to show me a sunrise, I've seen them before…with you, if I recall correctly."

The blonde shook Hermione gently. "You do recall correctly, but it's not that, it's something far better. Now will you please get up? We'll miss it if we don't leave soon!"

Fleur seemed so excited, so Hermione assumed that maybe this would be worth her time getting out of bed at this hour. She dragged herself away from the comfortable mattress and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she returned to the room, Fleur threw a baby-blue sweatshirt at her and she pulled it on, sinking into the softness and warmth of the blonde's clothing.

"Where are we going?" she wondered curiously as they made their way onto the grounds.

"You'll see."

They walked for another few minutes and Hermione saw that they were heading towards the Quidditch field. "Why are we going to the Quidditch field?" she questioned, looking at the younger girl.

"We're not, I just need to get my Firebolt first," Fleur told her.

Stopping dead in her tracks, Hermione grabbed the taller girl's hand. "We're flying?"

"We kind of have to if we want to reach where we're going."

"I hate flying."

"I know, which is why I don't consider this part of your surprise."

Hermione gave her a look but said no more. The cold air felt crisp and her eyes watered as they walked against the wind. She huddled closer to Fleur as they walked, trying to keep warm. After retrieving her Firebolt, Fleur climbed on and looked expectantly at Hermione.

"C'mon, Hermione, you know you can trust me. Nothing will happen to you."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart," she said seriously.

"Okay." Still feeling apprehensive, she clambered onto the broom behind Fleur, wrapping her arms tightly around the taller girl's waist, enjoying the tingling sensation in her stomach.

Fleur was an excellent flyer, which is perhaps why she made the Gryffindor Quidditch team in her third year. She flew back the way they came, gliding close to the surface of the lake, but climbed higher up when she caught sight of the Great Squid near the surface. Grinning into Fleur's shoulder, Hermione remembered that the blonde was deathly afraid of water creatures. They flew past Hagrid's hut and over the trees of the Forbidden Forest.

"Where are we going?" she called through the loud wind in their ears.

"You'll see!"

They flew for a few more minutes, heading deeper into the forest and further and further away from the castle. Remembering everything that had happened in the forest, Hermione felt a little fearful as they went further in. However, if there was one thing she was certain about, it was that she could trust Fleur. She could trust the other girl with her life and not be disappointed.

The sun began to peak over the edge of the forest. She buried her face into Fleur's back, shielding her eyes from the sharp glare, and she felt the blonde tense. Thinking nothing of it, Hermione wrapped her arms tighter around the girl's waist and faintly wondered why it felt so good being this close to her.

Tilting the broom downwards, they declined into a small clearing.

"Oh my god…" Hermione's jaw dropped as she saw a large herd of unicorns. She climbed shakily off the broom and moved close to Fleur, who wrapped a steady arm around her.

"I take you someplace every year for your birthday," Fleur began, "and I remembered that you were infatuated with unicorns, so I decided to bring you here."

"Fleur…" She was speechless. A baby unicorn shyly approached them, its golden fur glistening in the early morning light. "How did you know they were here?" she asked quietly, not wanting to scare away the fowl.

"Hagrid told me about this clearing last year when we were studying unicorns in Care of Magical Creatures. He told me several families lived here, which was where he caught the ones for class. Only told me about it though because he knows how much I adore the study of magical creatures." Fleur produced a couple of sugar lumps from her pocket and handed them to the astonished Hermione. "Here, feed him these. He likes them."

"Hagrid told you about this place?" Hermione gingerly held out her hand, offering the sugar cube to the unicorn. "How long have you been coming here?"

"I come every once and a while, whenever I feel the need to escape from it all," she said fondly. "This is the quietest part of the forest and nobody knows about it. You can only get to it by flying."

"Really?" Realizing that Fleur was letting in her in another private part of her life, Hermione felt really pleased.

"Yeah. You see the trees all around here?" Fleur pointed at the clumps of trees, grown so close together that Hermione could see no gaps for people to come though. "Well the unicorns used their magic to charm it, so as no person or creature can break through. But the unicorns themselves can come and go as they please."

"That's amazing…" Walking around the clearing, Hermione noted the lush grass that grew from the ground, unlike the other parts of the forest. She watched the unicorns in amazement. There were eight in all, two fowl, three silver, and three fully grown unicorns, their pure white fur almost too blinding to look at. Hermione felt Fleur staring at her, possibly trying to gauge her reaction to this outing. Making sure the blonde knew that she loved this surprise, she went over and hugged the girl tightly. "I love it. Fleur, this is absolutely amazing, thank you."

Because her face was buried in the taller girl's shoulder, she missed the soft smile that formed on Fleur's face. "I'm glad you like it, but that's not all there is." She pulled out of the hug and ran over to the largest unicorn (Hermione knew it was a male).

"There's more?"

"Of course," Fleur said. "I wouldn't drag you out here at the crack of dawn to stare at some unicorns; could do that any time of the day. No, I need to finish your gift here."

"My gift?"

The blonde gave her a disbelieving look. "Hermione, it's your birthday, of course there's a gift involved." Digging in her pocket, Fleur pulled out a small box. Hermione moved forward curiously, and the other girl handed her the box. "Open in and put it on right away."

A golden ring was inside the tiny box. Gasping in surprise, the brunette pulled it out and admired the large sapphire studs that were engraved all around the thin band. "It's beautiful…" she breathed.

"Put it on."

Sliding the ring down her right middle finger, Hermione looked up at Fleur, her eyes shining with emotion. "Fleur, this is really…thank you." She was about to embrace the other girl, but Fleur took a step back. Giving her a curious look, Hermione yelped when she the unicorn next to them brushed his head against her arm. After she spun around, he pressed the tip of his horn against the one of the sapphire studs. The ring spun hot on her finger as he touched each stone with his horn. When he finished, he stepped back and joined one of the fowls eating grass a few feet away.

"Did he just…?" Hermione began, staring at her hand in wonder.

"He charmed the stones of your ring, something unicorns can—"

"Only do at sunrise…What charm did he use?"

Smoothing back a strand of hair that had managed to fall out of her low ponytail, Fleur answered seriously, "A protection charm, of course." She approached Hermione and took her hand, running her thumb along the golden band. "Voldemort's back, whether that hag Umbridge or the rest of the Ministry believe it or not. And one of my worst fears is losing my best friend." Her words were encased with such sincere emotion that Hermione felt touched. "Because there are so many stones on this ring, the power of that protection charm is phenomenal. You'll be protected against all minor and most major curses…I really love you, Hermione." The brunette held Fleur's intense gaze. "I can't lose you."

It was the morning of September ninth, Hermione's seventeenth birthday. The clock read 6:05 am. Exactly one year ago, Fleur was on her bed, trying to make her get up so they could fly over the Forbidden Forest to the clearing with the unicorns. Staring at the canopy of her bed, she tried to fight back the tears that were forming. It was her birthday and Fleur was not even in the room…she was spending the night with Matthew, according to Lavender. Hermione felt betrayed somehow. Every year since she had been at Hogwarts, Fleur had always jumped on her bed to wake her up and give the brunette her gift. Last year had definitely been the most special though. Holding her hand out in front of her, Hermione smiled softly as she admired the golden ring. At the time she received it, she thought that she had the sweetest best friend of all time. Now, she felt like she should have known there was something more, especially with the way Fleur told her she loved her; it was filled with such strong emotion…no one had ever said 'I love you' to her like Fleur did. If only she had recognized the girl's feelings for what they really were, maybe Hermione could have deciphered her own in time….

She sat up and gazed around the dark room. Both Parvati and Lavender had the curtains to their four-poster beds closed, but Fleur's were open (she normally slept with them open, preferring to be woken by the morning sunlight rather than by the rude bell of an alarm clock) and there was no sleeping blonde on the bed. Her chest constricted painfully and she tried to expel any thoughts of what Fleur and Matthew did when Fleur spent the night in his room. Now that…that was more than she could handle.

They had not spoken since the night they fought, and, for the time being, Hermione had given up trying to talk to her. If talking to Fleur actually meant fighting with the girl, she would rather not do so. Instead, she settled for staring wistfully at the blonde whenever she was in the room. Fleur usually sat with Matthew or with Lavender and Parvati, who she had become impossibly close to. Some nights, Hermione would hear them chatting girlishly together, and she would cast a Silencing charm on her hangings, jealous of the vain duo.

When Hermione entered the common room two hours later, freshly showered and dressed, Harry and Ron wished her a bright happy birthday and handed her their gifts (her favorite chocolate purchased at Honeydukes from Ron, and a brand new eagle quill from Harry).

At breakfast, Fleur sat with Matthew, Lavender, and Parvati. Far short of wishing her happy birthday, the blonde did not even spare her a single glance. Staring sadly at the ring on her finger, Hermione considered skipping class that day, but immediately thought against it. Hiding in her dormitory would do nothing to help, and going to class meant an easy distraction. She gave Fleur one last look, sighed, and excused herself from the table, ready to start her day.

"Watch out for next year." Fleur laughed and tickled Hermione's sides as they made their way back up to the castle for breakfast.

"What happens next year?" Hermione asked, lightly shoving the blonde's hands away from her ribs (she hated to be tickled, but the other girl insisted on torturing her).

"I get you an even better gift for your birthday," she stated matter-of-factly.

"How on earth do you plan to top a charmed, golden ring?" She laughed as Fleur began skipping towards the front door.

Turning around, she gave the brunette a shrug and a cheeky grin. "I don't know…but I've got a whole year to think about it, don't I?"

Hermione merely smiled and shook her head, feeling very fond of her best friend.

A/N: This is not beta'd, so I apologize for any errors.