A/N: Hello, having a horrible week at work, but at least I have Fleurmione to cheer me up. On that note, if you're reading this PLEASE consider penning your own Fleurmione fic and posting it- no matter how short or terrible you might think it may be. I'm almost running out of material to read!
Hermione woke up with a flail. She had finally fallen asleep only to be back in Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix Lestrange slowly pacing towards her with her poisonous dagger. She was confused. She didn't know where she was. It was dark and she could feel arms around her from behind. She thrashed and the arms tightened their grip. A low velvety voice started murmuring in French to her. Hermione became aware of the aroma of vanilla and flowers and relaxed. It was just Fleur.
"Hermione, you're safe…" Fleur murmured sleepily, finally switching to English. Hermione relaxed further, leaning her back against Fleur. Fleur murmured something else unintelligible before presumably falling asleep. Hermione was still trembling slightly, covered in cold sweat, heart beating hard. But her breathing had already returned to normal and she was feeling safe. Hermione stared into the darkness, feeling her heartbeat slow and the trembles ease. Eventually, her eyes began to feel heavy again and she drifted off.
Hermione awoke the next morning, aware that Fleur was still spooning her. Without the after effects of a recent night terror, Hermione was suddenly painfully aware of the feeling of Fleur's body pressed against her. Her breasts were pressed against her back and she could feel Fleur's breath lightly brushing her ear. Hermione felt a blush rise in her cheeks. Years ago in the midst of her hazy pubescent crush on Fleur, Hermione never would have imagined in a million years that she would actually end up in this position with her. Fleur sighed in her sleep and shifted, moving her hips against Hermione. Hermione felt a jolt of arousal course through her, a dampness developing between her legs. She looked down at Fleur's hand and saw her wedding ring staring back at her, the arousal suddenly replaced by guilt. Fleur was asleep, married, and straight. Hermione reluctantly pulled herself from Fleur's arms and out of the fold out bed. Fleur made a mumbled sulky noise and pulled a pillow over to hug. Hermione smiled. Fleur often seemed like an intimidating ice queen, but in the depths of sleep she was adorable.
Hermione grabbed her bag and padded outside. There was morning dew on the ground. As she walked away from the tent her feet began to turn numb with the coldness of the grass, but she welcomed it. She moved behind some trees and carefully got changed before returning to the clearing to stare out at the serene nature around her. She sat on a rock, staring at a small pond nearby. She heard the rustling of long grass behind her and Harry came to sit on the rock beside her.
"So after all these years you finally got Fleur Delacour in bed," Harry joked and Hermione swatted him hard.
"Oi!" Harry laughed, rubbing his arm where she had hit him, "I guess that would have been the benefit of us remaining in the muggle world instead of Hogwarts, being able to rely on the internet instead of newspapers and magazines."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but it was strangely comforting talking to someone else who had been raised as a muggle before Hogwarts. Harry was pulling at some moss on the side of the rock. Hermione sighed heavily.
"I can't seem to stop having nightmares…" she said, still looking at the pond. She could feel Harry's green eyes on her, concerned. He took her hand, raising her arm and looking at the bandage where Bellatrix had inflicted the nastiest damage. They never talked about the word that Bellatrix had carved into her arm. It was too horrible.
"Sometimes I have nightmares about what would have happened to you if we never got out…" Harry said lowering her arm again and blinking hard. Hermione turned her gaze to him. It was very unlike Harry to be blinking back tears.
"Sometimes I feel like real life is a nightmare these days…" Harry continued, swallowing heavily. Hermione squeezed his hand.
"That's why nights like last night are so important," she said, smiling, "Moments of normality that remind us of who we are outside of this war."
Harry gave a small smile back and they pushed themselves off the rocks and made their way back to the tent. Ron was sitting outside at the campfire, making a disastrous attempt at breakfast and trying to wave away a darting Griphook who was loudly lecturing on the attempts. Harry sat down on a log next to them, laughing. Hermione was right, the familiarity of Ron bungling cooking cheered him up and made him feel more like himself.
Hermione's bandaged arm was beginning to throb and she entered the tent, eager to find the ointments and potions for her morning treatment. Fleur was inside, straightening up the now folded up couch. Hermione tried to restrain a smirk. Fleur was carefully arranging cushions and a throw and tilting her head to one side to observe how it looked.
"You really aren't cut out for camping, are you?" Hermione said with a chuckle. Fleur turned around and Hermione briefly felt the air sucked out of her lungs. Fleur was a beautiful girl, but this morning she was looking particularly radiant. Her long silver-blonde hair was loose and she was wearing tight black jeans, black laced boots and a tight white top under a forest green peacoat. Her lips were light pink and Hermione couldn't quite tell if she was wearing makeup or was naturally this stunning. These pink lips pulled themselves into a pout as Fleur crossed her arms.
"I was just making it look a little more inviting," Fleur said defensively. Her face softened as she noticed Hermione clenching the hand on her bandaged arm.
"Merde, Hermione, you're overdue for your healing," she said, pulling Hermione by her good arm to sit down on the couch. She expertly unwound the bandage before pulling her bag closer. Hermione couldn't look at the word carved into her arm, instead focusing on the ceiling of the tent. She felt a sharp sear of pain as Fleur began spreading the ointment on her wounds. She had a sharp intake of breath.
Fleur made a soothing noise and Hermione dared to look at Fleur's face hovering above her arm. Her long dark eyelashes were covering her eyes as she looked down. Hermione could feel her breath on her arm, a soothing presence amongst the pain. Fleur's fingers brushed a particularly deep part of the cut and Hermione made a hiss of pain, turning her gaze to the ceiling of the tent again. But the worst was done, and Fleur was already bandaging her arm again. She handed Hermione a small vial of potion to drink, smiling encouragingly. Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach despite herself, and frowned at the re-emergence of her stupid schoolgirl crush.
Hermione finished the bitter potion with a quick gulp and a grimace, handing the vial back to Fleur. "It will become less painful with time, Hermione, I promise," Fleur said, sweeping in to gently kiss Hermione on the cheek before rising. As her back turned, Hermione broke out in a blush, not helped by the hypnotizing sway of Fleur's hips as she exited the tent.
Once breakfast was over and the equipment packed up, the group embarked on a day full of walking. To Hermione's surprise, Fleur took to this well, often striding ahead or climbing ridges or rocks along their path, showing off her her athleticism.
"Wonder why Bill didn't come…" Ron said from beside Hermione, also watching Fleur ahead. Hermione kept her face neutral, remembering Bill and Tonks outside Shell Cottage, and Fleur's tears the night before.
By the latter part of the day, conversation had died out, replaced by morose thoughts. The sky was a dark grey, almost reflecting the group's moods, and soon fat drops of rain began to fall.
They continued striding forward as the rain intensified, hunching their shoulders against it. Eventually they started walking through a forest again, partially blocking them from the rain. Hermione was thinking ahead to the Gringotts heist, her stomach clenching at the prospect of using a polyjuice potion to become Bellatrix. It was bad enough she saw her frequently in her nightmares, she wasn't sure how she would deal with seeing her reflection staring back at her in a mirror. Hermione must have been lost in her thoughts because she didn't see the thick tree root protruding from the forest floor. Her foot hooked into it and she tripped, falling painfully on her side before rolling down a slope and into a clearing.
The wind was knocked out of her and she was seeing stars. Suddenly she wasn't just seeing stars, she was seeing an angel. No, not an angel. Fleur. Fleur was leaning over her, moving her arms around her, looking concerned.
"Hermione, are you okay?" she said, her voice constricted with concern. She looked over her shoulder at the boys, who were hovering behind her. "Maybe we should set up camp here for the night," she suggested softly, and the boys nodded, turning to set up the tent in the clearing. Fleur turned back to Hermione.
"Are you okay?" Fleur repeated. Hermione nodded slowly, overwhelmed by being in Fleur's arms again. Fleur's silver-blonde hair was wet and hanging from her, but she still looked beautiful. Her skin was wet from the rain and, to Hermione's dismay, she could see the definite outline of a lacy bra through Fleur's wet top. She blushed heavily. Fleur seemed to sense her awkwardness and released her, offering a hand to pull her up instead.
They quickly put up the wards and barriers before heading back to the newly set up tent. Harry and Ron were stretching, shooting dark looks at Griphook who had been leaning against a log the entire time.
Ron ran a hand through his sopping hair. "Bloody hell," he sighed, "Not the best day on the road so far… but I suppose not the worst either." Harry smiled. It wasn't the worst by far. He reached into his backpack, unzipping it and having a good rummage.
"Well, it has stopped raining…" he said, rummaging, "So we may as well go search for some dry firewood amongst the trees… and…" he withdrew his hand, triumphant, clutching a large bottle of whisky. Ron clapped him on the back.
"Okay, you lot can stay here minding the camp," Harry said, nodding at Fleur and Hermione. Ron glared at Griphook, "You're coming though, mate," he added. The boys headed off into the forest.
Hermione quietly opened her bag, pulling out a collection of lawn chairs. Fleur smirked. "You really are the master of the extendable charm," she said, before turning her wand to herself and drying herself off. She flicked it at Hermione, drying her too. They sat down in the lawn chairs beside each other. Fleur opening the bottle of whisky and poured them a couple of tumblers each.
Hermione took a small sip, raising her eyebrows as Fleur took a large gulp. They sat in silence for a moment.
"So why did you decide to join us?" Hermione asked, finally wanting to know. Fleur took another big gulp of whisky, scrunching up her nose at the taste.
"Well… you are not yet fully healed and I worry about you…" Fleur said, the faint blush playing at her cheeks showing that she was at least truthful about that part. But Hermione knew there was more, and kept looking at her, waiting for her to continue.
Fleur sighed, "And I don't think there is much left for me at Shell Cottage," she said. Hermione quirked an eyebrow.
"Hermione, I know you saw, just as well as I did," Fleur said, her voice exasperated and tired.
"But is it beyond fixing?" Hermione asked, her eyes moving to the wedding ring on Fleur's finger.
"I think it has been beyond fixing for a while…" Fleur said sadly, looking down at her drink, "We haven't been sleeping in the same bed for many months…"
There was a crunch from nearby and they could hear the boys' voices as they approached the campsite.
"Well," Fleur said, sipping at her drink again, "Shall we move to more pleasant topics?"
The boys returned, a fire was set going, and the whisky flowed heavily. Hermione noticed that Fleur was indulging heavily in the drink. By the end of the night, she was unsteady on her feet, and Hermione leapt up to grab her arm.
"I think its time you went to bed…" Hermione murmured, leading Fleur into the tent. At that, Harry extinguished the fire and him and Ron moved inside to join Griphook in the room with the bunk.
Hermione pulled out the fold out bed and sat Fleur carefully on it, moving to collect a glass and fill it with water.
"Here, drink up," Hermione said softly, pushing it into Fleur's hands. Fleur giggled drunkenly.
"I guess you are ze nurse now, 'Ermione," she said, her accent thickening with her drunkenness. Hermione smiled and nudged her to drink the water, which she willingly did. Hermione moved to brush her teeth and get changed into her pyjamas, before returning to back to the fold out and climbing into bed.
"Okay, Fleur, time for bed," Hermione said to the drunk French witch, who was sitting cross legged on the bed, playing with her hair.
"Non, plus de whisky," Fleur said, giggling again.
"Ah, you say that now, Fleur, but you won't be laughing tomorrow when you have to walk all day hungover," Hermione said, and the French witch pouted.
"Fine," Fleur said, standing clumsily and taking her pants off. Hermione tried not to look at her ass, but as Fleur turned, she caught Hermione's gaze and smiled widely.
"Ah," she giggled, "Does real life live up to ze pictures you 'ad under your bed at 'Ogwarts?" Fleur teased in her melodic voice. Hermione blushed. Fleur clambered onto the bed, straddling Hermione. Hermione was grateful for the covers separating her from feeling Fleur even closer against her.
"I-I'm not sure anything quite lives up to you in person, Fleur," Hermione said in a constricted voice. Fleur gave a coy smile.
"Do you zink I'm beautiful?" she said, arching an eyebrow. Hermione blushed harder, overwhelmed by the blonde beauty straddling her.
"Fleur… you're magnificent…" Hermione whispered breathlessly. Fleur moved her hands slowly to the hem of her shirt, before pulling it slowly off. Hermione's breath caught in her throat. Fleur was now just in her lingerie, straddling her.
"This has to be a dream…" Hermione muttered under her breath, but judging from Fleur's widening smile, she had heard her.
"Would I be enough for you?" Fleur asked, her smile faltering, and Hermione was crashed back to reality. Fleur was drunk and in a bad place. Hermione shook her head and pulled Fleur off her before wrapping her in her arms.
"What Bill did to you was awful, but don't ever think that means you're not enough…" Hermione said, as Fleur began to cry. It was a jarring sight, far more surprising than hearing Fleur quietly cry the previous night. Fleur's face was still beautiful, but it was broken with tears. But Hermione only saw it for a moment before Fleur burrowed her face into Hermione's shoulder, shaking with sobs.
The next morning, Hermione awoke with Fleur still in her arms. She was relieved that she had slept through without any night terrors. Fleur stirred a little in her arms, and Hermione's attention turned to the blonde beauty nestled against her. For once, her first reaction wasn't arousal, she felt a pang of sadness for Fleur. She had been so hopeful on her wedding day, she didn't deserve to have her happiness snatched from her. If it had been Hermione, she never would have cheated on Fleur, not in a million years… She scrunched her eyes shut, banishing the thought. It wasn't her though, it was Bill. Bill who Fleur loved.
Fleur stirred again and opened her eyes, her sapphire orbs staring deeply into Hermione's.
"Hermione…?" she asked sleepily, before wincing.
"I told you that you would end up with a hangover," Hermione said, chuckling lightly.
"Oh, merde," Fleur said, rolling away from Hermione and onto her back. She covered her face with her hands, the previous night's memories returning to her.
"Hey," Hermione chuckled, rolling onto her side to rest on an elbow, "Its okay, its all forgotten."
Fleur didn't move her hands from her face and groaned. "Argh, its not okay Hermione," she said, somewhat muffled by her hands, "I'm sorry, I know the effect my looks have have on those attracted to women…"
"I'm sorry?" Hermione said, unable to resist teasing the ailing Veela, "Are you apologizing for being 'too beautiful'? I forgot the famous ego of Fleur Delacour…"
This at least earned a snort from the blonde, who slowly removed her hands from her face, "oh leave me alone, Granger," she said with a smile.
Hermione smiled back. It was strange, she had always found Fleur intimidating or icy at the best of times, but over the course of this trip, it seemed they had finally broken through to being able to be at ease around each other.