A/N: Updated as requested. Please review and let me know what you like and what you might like to see.
Chapter 6 Safe Harbour
Fleur tapped gently on the door and when she got no answer from within she sighed as she leant her forehead against the barrier between her and Hermione. Gathering her resolve she quietly opened the door and slipped into the room, not wanting to invade Hermione's solitude but at the same time telling herself that she too slept in this room. Fleur gently pushed the door flush up against the frame and listened for the latch to catch offering them a semblance of privacy.
Acutely aware that Hermione had not acknowledged her presence Fleur slowly turned to face Hermione. Expecting to see her step-daughter scowling back at her, Fleur was mildly surprised by the sight that greeted her. For a moment she forgot which timeline she was in as she took in Hermione stretched out on the bed against the far wall.
She was laying on her stomach, head resting in the cradle she had made with her arms, bushy brunette locks shielding her from view. Fleur sat on the corner of her own bed as her brain prompted her to breathe as she had subconsciously been holding her breath. No matter how much she told herself to look away, Fleur found that she did not have the resolve to follow through on the thought as she stared unabashedly at the beautiful woman before her. Rays of moonlight streamed off the window and danced off brunette locks. Fleur followed the fingers of moonlight as she drank in the curves of Hermione's body perfectly accentuated by the jeans she was wearing.
Listening intently Fleur could hear the slow steady rhythm of Hermione's breathing as she slept and found that she could not move. Swallowing deliberately Fleur let her eyes flutter shut as she let her mind drift to a happier time.
They had both been exhausted returning home from an Order meeting. As Fleur came out of the bathroom drying her hand on her sweater she found Hermione lying on her stomach on the couch fast asleep. Fleur had smiled and for a second considered letting Hermione sleep then she loosed a deep throaty chuckle as she climbed onto the couch gently straddling her wife's rump as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and leant over tenderly kissing Hermione's neck as she pushed her brunette hair out of the way.
A pleasant moan escaped Hermione's lips as she twisted under Fleur so that she was facing her wife and leaned up to capture her lips. Fleur melted every time Hermione kissed her and this time was no different as she closed her eyes and pressed her body against Hermione's.
They had made love all through the night that night Fleur smiled at the memory as she sighed, wishing she was able to crawl up the bed opposite and repeat the action. Fleur opened her eyes casting the memory away and swallowing the pain and other emotions that came with it as her heart ached with longing. She looked over at Hermione still asleep and scooted back on the bed so that she was leaning up against the wall. Fleur felt the drain of exhaustion from the days events, the emotional turmoil and the constant fear that all was for naught, but in spite of this she wanted to watch over Hermione. Fleur was determined to catch the first hint of a nightmare from the young woman so that she could chase it away and Hermione could for once get a solid nights rest.
Fleur felt her head fall forward and she drew a sharp intake of breath as she realised she had begun to nod off for the umpteenth time. She washed her face with dry hands waking herself up as she slid off the bed and stepped over to check on Hermione. The brunette was shivering from falling asleep atop the blankets and she pulled the blanket from her own bed and gently cast it over Hermione before stepping over to the window and looking out into the yard, lit by the moons bright glow.
In the back of her mind it registered that it was a full moon and Fleur allowed herself to be distracted by the repercussions that would have for Remus and Tonks. She smiled at the thought of how the couple so obviously loved each other despite the challenges set before them, it gave her hope that she and Hermione could get through the same challenges, once the latter was of age.
Fleur let her mind wander to thoughts of a closer future, Hermione would be returning to school in a matter of days and the physical distance between them would be as overwhelming as the emotional one. She sighed for a moment as she felt loneliness sweep through her heart at the thought of the issues between her and Hermione. Fleur wondered, not for the first time, if she had made a mistake coming back to this time. She knew that she could not have, would not have survived the loss of Hermione back in her original time, but was what she was going through here really worth it? Would Hermione ever recognise her as anything other than someone who tried to replace her mother, someone who was with her father for two of the hardest years Hermione had faced in her life?
Fleur gasped at the maudlin turn her thoughts had taken, knowing that she could not dwell on them or she would be lost to depression, so she took a deep breath and pushed onwards. Hermione's birthday was shortly after the start of term and while Fleur would not see her on the day she still wanted to be some small part of the celebration. Things were so difficult at the moment for the younger witch, Fleur worried that she would not celebrate the event at all and she resigned herself to ensure that this would not be the case.
Fleur smiled as she remembered a few nights ago when she and Waylan had discussed Hermione's birthday and what gifts to send her, they had decided upon a few books, a mix of magical and muggle ones. Fleur shook her head, suddenly not wanting to encourage Hermione to withdraw further from people and decided that she would indeed have to reconsider the gift she was to give her.
She began rolling gift ideas through her head but an hour later had come up with nothing concrete when a whimper drew her attention back to Hermione's sleeping form. Fleur unknowingly held her breath hoping beyond reason that she had imagined the sound; that Hermione was in fact sleeping soundly and the day's events hadn't given her mind another reason to torment her as she tried to rest. It was not meant to be however as Hermione began to struggle with some unknown predator in her sleep and her whimpers became more pronounced.
Slipping her wand from her sleeve Fleur cast a silencing charm on the room secured the door. Swallowing down the lump in her throat she stepped over to Hermione's bed and laid a warm comforting hand on her brow as she whispered reassurances in French. Hermione slowly calmed at the words she heard and as her frantic breaths and racing heart seemed to calm she moved her body closer to the wall, away from Fleur. The blonde witch bit her lip to stop the disappointed sigh that was building in her throat from escaping, feeling stung by the young witch pulling away from her.
After staring at the back of Hermione's head for a moment Fleur quietly stood from the bed and wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself in an attempt to feel some comfort. Fleur took a step to the window, but heard Hermione move on the bed and turned to look at her. She met a brown eyed gaze that melted her heart every time she saw it and offered a reassuring smile. Hermione returned the smile with an awkward one of her own, desperately trying to convey all her needs in a look. Fleur could see the need in Hermione's eyes and face but worried that she was reading too much into it.
"Fleur," Hermione stated quietly lowering her gaze.
Fleur stepped towards the bed, worried for a moment that she was responding a little eagerly, and then perched on the edge of the bed expectantly. Hermione turned away from Fleur as soon as she sat on the bed, she felt like a small child blushing with embarrassment. The brunette swallowed back tears as she felt the bed move as Fleur's weight was lifted off of it. Inwardly cursing her need to be held, her inability to voice that need and the fact that she enjoyed Fleur's scent, Hermione steeled herself to ask Fleur to hold her. Before the younger witch could get the words past her lip she again felt the bed move as a hand slid over her side and the warmth of a body was suddenly pressed up against her back.
For a split second Hermione stiffened at the feel of Fleur's body pressed up against her, panic threatening to overcome her, but as Fleur held her with one arm she used her free hand to tenderly stroke Hermione's hair as she whispered to her in French. Hermione relaxed a little, not understanding what Fleur was saying but her tone was soothing, comforting, reassuring. Suddenly feeling brave Hermione lifted her arm and covered Fleur's, lacing her fingers between the blonde's, Fleur faltered in her words as she felt Hermione gently grasp her hand and pull her arm so that Fleur was holding her tighter, but she continued missing only one or two beats as she continued to whisper to Hermione.
It was not long before Hermione fell back to sleep, a calm and restful sleep. Fleur, who had spent a solid portion of the night sitting on the end of the bed opposite struggling to stay awake, now found her in a state of insomnia as she warred with her emotions. She was content to have her arms wrapped around her love, basking in her aura, but she also felt a pang of guilt at the predicament she was now in. She longed to hold Hermione, but not for these reasons. Of course she did not begrudge offering the brunette comfort, not in the slightest, she simply wished to be holding her for almost any reason other than this.
Hermione's eyes flew open as she awoke, aware that there was someone in the bed beside her. She tried to force her mind to work until she remembered that she had been having a nightmare during the night and Fleur had pulled her out of it with a warm hand on her forehead and soothing words reaching her ears. Hermione forced herself to quietly take a calming breath and to greet the situation logically, there was absolutely nothing wrong with getting comfort in the night for a nightmare. Nor was there anything wrong with falling back to sleep with said persons arm wrapped around you. Where Hermione was having a little trouble was the flutter of her heart as she closed her eyes and relished the sensation of Fleur pressed up against her, the way her breasts nuzzled her back, the way Fleur had bent her knees up slightly so that Hermione's buttocks were pressed into her lap, the way Fleur's hot breath danced across the nape of her neck.
Hermione swallowed hard as she desperately tried to push her mind in any direction that did not involve Fleur being pressed up against her and her loving it. She examined her situation, she was trapped in the bed between the wall and Fleur, no she corrected herself, she definitely did not feel trapped, she felt safe. Leaving the bed was the last thing she wanted to do, though she surmised that if she wanted to she could crawl out the bottom without waking Fleur up. So instead she let her mind go back to the conversation in the living room last night, the revelation about her dad. She bit her lip, wincing slightly as she recalled slapping Fleur for not warning her, but in retrospect she could understand why Fleur had not warned her. Then she thought about Professor McGonagall's words, wanting her to return to the school as a Gryffindor, she frowned as she mulled it over.
Hermione had requested to be moved to Ravenclaw after the summer her mother died because she did not want everyone fussing over her, she felt that being in Ravenclaw people would leave her be and let her study or read in peace. In effect she was left to her own devices, never having to discuss her feelings or revisit the horrors of the summer. Not that Professor Flitwick and the students of Raveclaw did not care, on the contrary, people she rarely spoke to would wish her well throughout the day and instigate conversation with her. However on the whole Ravenclaws are a lot more intrusive than she had experienced with the Gryffindors and if she was to return to Gryffindor house then she would need to make a few concessions. A tendril of doubt prodded her stomach as she realised she would go back into a shared dormitory; how would she hide her nightmares? She made a mental note to ask Fleur later about it as she closed her eyes and sighed as she could not ignore the sensations she was feeling any longer, she knew she had to get out of this bed before she did something that would damage her relationship with Fleur even further. With a note of regret she slowly and quietly crawled to the bottom of the bed and slipped out of the room, leaving Fleur to sleep on.
A little later Fleur entered the kitchen and headed straight over to the coffee pot, smiling that someone had been thoughtful enough to make a fresh pot. She clutched her mug to her like it was providing her the very breath of life and turned to survey the busy kitchen. The room seemed to be perpetually filled with Weasley's which was something that Fleur did not understand, why were they here? Surely they would much rather spend the precious time together as a family? A stab of disappointment struck a chord within her when she realised that the only member of her own little family, Hermione, was not present. Fleur took a sip of her coffee and turned to look out into the garden, hoping that the disappointment had gone unnoticed in the chaos of the room.
"One cannot survive on coffee alone Fleur," Came Andy's voice from behind her.
Fleur answered with what she hoped was a reassuring smile and went through the motions of grabbing a plate and placing a couple of slices of toast on it, surrendering her coffee cup to the counter so that she could spread some of Andromeda's home-made strawberry jam on it. The jam maker herself had a cup of tea in one hand and came to stand next to Fleur.
"It is a little...busy in here, there is a lot of traffic, why don't we go out into the garden and relax while we wait for Minerva and Albus to return with Hermione?" the kind witch asked.
Fleur glanced up at the words and saw the truth of it in Andromeda's eyes, she nodded slowly and grabbed her coffee and toast following the ravne haired witch into the garden and over to the bench on the deck.
"You really do 'ave a lovely 'ome," Fleur stated unable to keep the longing for her own home out of her voice.
"Yes, I was one of Minerva's top student's back in the day." Andromeda answered indicating that the decking and other garden furniture had been transfigured to suit hers and Ted's needs. "In fact I believe I held the top spot until your Hermione replaced me," Andromeda commented, smiling slyly.
Fleur smiled, chest swelling proudly, "Yes, she is very talented," she agreed, "I believe zat you and your sisters were quite talented when you were at school, at least in my time you were."
A dark look passed across Andromeda's face as she subconsciously rubbed her right wrist, "Yes, we were quite the terror for Minerva and Albus when the three of us were up to some mischief," Andromeda smiled wryly, though truth be told Narcissa was always desperately trying to convince us to stop when we got caught she did not like being in trouble."
Fleur and Andromeda giggled at the thought of a young Narcissa black trying to stop Andromeda and Bellatrix from breaking the rules.
"Oh dont get me wrong, she could be quite formidable when she was truly against something," Andromeda clarified, "I do miss the sisters that we once were," she added forlornly.
Fleur reached over and gently squeezed Andromeda's hand, "I am sorry, I did not mean to bring up sad memories for you." she told the witch beside her.
"Not to worry Fleur," she said as she took a sip of her tea and the two women sat quietly for a while as Fleur ate her toast.
"So 'Ermione is at 'ogwarts?" she finally asked
Andromeda smiled, "Yes, I believe that she wanted to discuss some things with Minerva and Albus,"
Fleur felt a flutter of annoyance, she had wanted to be there to support Hermione when they presented the evidence of her fathers treacherous actions. She could not begin to realise the way the young witch would be feeling, but one thing she knew for sure was that Hermione would figure out that her father was the cause of her mothers death and that he sold her body to the Death Eaters to secure his loyalty to them. Fleur sighed, already feeling exhausted at the day that lay before her and began mentally planning how she would deal with the moody teenager when she returned.
"You believe she will not react well to the evidence? It is a lot to take in for anyone of course, but Hermione is smart enough to place the blame with her father surely?" Andromeda asked.
"Oui, she is smart and she will realize zat 'e iz to blame. Zat is ze problem, 'e is to blame for so much more zan Mierva and Albus realize and she is so smart zat she will figure et out so very quickly and her world will crash down around about 'er again." Fleur explained, voice laden with emotion at the idea.
Andromeda considered the weight of Fleur's words before responding, "You love her. She will see that, she will see you beside her supporting her and not giving up on her despite her...flare for the dramatic."
"Merlin, I 'ope zat you are right." Fleur said as she rose from the bench suddenly unable to finish her toast and retreating back into the kitchen.
Hermione sat stoically in the head masters office giving all the signs that she was listening to Professor Dumbledore as he outlined the evidence against her father. In actual fact she had stopped listening as soon as she had enough to concur with the conclusion that her father had in fact betrayed her. For all intents and purposes that was really all she cared about, that her father had betrayed her. The rest of the wizarding world could go to hell in a hand basket for all she cared, but her father's betrayal of her broke something within her.
It had been a trick that she had learned last year; to be able to look as though one was listening raptly to a professor who was teaching a specific subject when in actual fact she was taking a stroll through her mind. Hermione had become quite adept, or at least she had thought she had until she realised that the room was bathed in silence and the eyes of the head master and her head of house were resting on her.
Hermione cleared her throat and got to her feet, "Thank you Professors," she said swiftly bringing the conversation to an end.
Professor Dumbledore glanced at Professor McGonagall who looked just as concerned as he did, "Is there anything you would like to discuss Miss Granger?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
Hermione headed to the door to his office, "No sir, I am quite clear on all the facts, thank you for taking time out of your day to explain it. If you don't mind you have given me a lot to think about so I would like to return to the Tonks residence if that is alright?" Hermione stated in a manner that left no room for compromise.
Professor nodded once and as Hermione turned to open the door an leave he glanced again to Professor McGonagall who gave him a nod and followed her charge from the office. Hermione was already heading down the stairs, intent on getting to Professor McGonagall's office so she could floo back as quickly as possible. She was a cauldron of emotions ready to boil over and spill out into the room and the only thing she could think of to control it was to get to Fleur.
Professor McGonagall followed quickly behind her deeply concerned, there was a palpable upset in the air and it was almost as though the Transfiguration professor could see the emotions rolling off of Hermione's skin like heat off the courtyard on a hot summers day. The distance between Hermione and Minerva was growing as the former broke out into a full pelt run. Hermione burst into the office and grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire, clearly stating her destination before following the powder and stepping onto the grate letting the flames whisk her away to her destination.
When Hermione stepped out of the grate in the Tonks Kitchen it was all she could do not to let her rage, fear and hurt explode from her, she quickly glanced to the coffee pot and found the witch she was looking for, almost letting out a sigh of relief she stepped over to Fleur.
Fleur turned at the sound of the floo activating and saw a very distressed Hermione, she frowned with worry and braced herself for some sort of outburst as the emotional young witch stepped towards her. Hermione looked up at Fleur, suddenly unable to speak, she had had no plan for when she arrived, only knew that she had to get to Fleur and somehow things would be alright from there.
The floo activated again and instinctively Fleur pushed Hermione behind her protectively, Minerva stepped from the grate seconds later and froze as she realised that she was on the wrong end of Fleur's wand and she did not know why. The rest of the kitchen had stopped what they were doing at Hermione's entrance but upon seeing Fleur apparently threatening Minerva McGonagall Molly was on her feet with Arthur quick on her heels to defend their long time friend.
"Everyone stop!" Andromeda shouted as she had quickly grasped the situation, "Molly, Arthur, she is not threatening Minerva, she is protecting Hermione." She explained.
Minerva could see the truth of it, "Hermione left us abruptly, I was simply concerned," Minerva explained her sudden appearance.
Fleur lowered her wand but did not put it away she could feel Hermione clinging to the hand she had used to sweep her behind her. She had a fair idea what had upset her this way and inwardly cursed Dumbledore for not waiting for her before talking to Hermione, but on the other hand felt better at knowing that it was she that Hermione came running to.
"Minerva, Je suis désolé, pardonnez-moi," Fleur stated and as she caught Minerva's acknowledgement she smiled grimly and turned to Hermione.
Fleur had deliberately spoken in French as she knew it was soothing to Hermione but she had no idea how to salvage this situation as she longed for the privacy of their own home so that she could reassure Hermione. The younger witch was clinging to Fleur's hand and staring at her feet she just wanted to disappear. It was as though Fleur could read the thoughts going through Hermione's mind because she pulled the distraught witch up against her and with a loud crack both witches vanished from the kitchen.