HARRY POTTER And the Veela girls
Healer
Chapter 07
Hide and seek
This is my first Harry Potter fic, and it contains the relationship between two females, so if it bothers you, please don't keep reading.
It begins with the ride on Hogwarts Express in the fourth book with some "little" changes.
Thank you so much for the feedback…
Bare in mind that I own neither Harry Potter nor its characters, so if you recognize any of them, THEY'RE NOT MINE. I only own the idea of making Hermione a half-breed veela.
I also not own the veela bonding/courtship ritual, that was an idea from D. Geheimnis and Dreiser; I came upon their fics "Accune Defense pour toi" and "No Defense for you", I strongly recomend you read those fics. Fleur's line """patience in all things, patience in one thing""" in "Accune Defense por toi" was what triggered this plot in my head.
Chapter 07
Hide and seek
Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Harry could send Sirius a letter telling him that he had managed to get past his dragon. On the way, Harry filled Ron on everything Sirius had told him about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along.
"Fits, doesn't it?" he said "remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… Though, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he?"
Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of delivery he was flying around and around Harry's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatch Pigwidgeon out of the air and hel him still while Harry attached the letter to his leg.
"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron went on as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Harry. I'm serious"
Hermione leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms and frowned at Ron. "Harry's got a long way to go before he finishes this tournament" she said seriously "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next"
"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Ron "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime"
He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual. They watched Pig disappear into the darkness and then Ron said "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry. Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens now"
Hermione was leading their way down when she bumped into someone else; she didn't need to see who it was since her other senses had already told her. Ron went purple while Harry tried to keep him from falling through the staircase.
"'Ermione" said Fleur smiling at her.
"Fleur" replied Hermione in a menacing tone
"We'll wait for you in the Hall Hermione, we won't go up to the tower without you. Ok?" said Harry taking Ron by the arm and leading him down while Hermione nodded her head.
Once alone Hermione was nervous, she didn't know what to expect now. She had accepted she liked Fleur, but she still felt annoyed by her and above all, she was still mad at her for not telling her the truth.
"Care to join me up zere?" began Fleur "I'm sending a letter to mozer and Gabby" she said showing the parchment in her hands. Hermione nodded and turned around again, climbing the stairs to the Owlery.
Fleur tied her message to her owl and looked expectantly at Hermione, waiting to see if she was going to speak to her. Hermione kept her gaze down, she refused to look directly at Fleur.
Fleur remembered her mother's words on her last letter, after congratulating her for being Beauxbaton's Champion, and praising her Chosen's friends …
It is worrisome that you feel pulled and pushed from her at the same time, though.
Are you sure its getting stronger? The Annoyance?
Anyway, remember what I last told you when you told me about that book you took from her:
My mom told me once that when you're afraid of something,
what you want more than anything else is to make it go away.
You want your life back to the way it was before you found out that there was something to be afraid of.
You want to build a high wall and live your old life behind it.
But nothing ever stays the same.
That's not your old life at all.
That's your new life with a wall around it.
Your choice is not about going back to the way things were.
Your choice is about hiding, or about going right to the heart of the thing that scares you.
She had kept that in mind all the time, or so she thought, after all, that's why she decided to begin with the bets, because she was afraid. Then it hit her hard… those words were not about her, they were about her Chosen…
"So…" said Hermione without looking at her. "I'll go now" she concluded turning to leave.
"Wait!" pleaded Fleur, Hermione froze but didn't turn around. "Won't you at least face me while we talk?"
"We don't have anything to talk about" said Hermione
"I won ze bet, you 'ave to 'ear me out"
"No, I don't. You didn't win. You didn't outdo Harry"
"But zat was not ze bet. I said, and I quote: 'I bet I'll get ze hig'est marks in ze first task. If I come firzzt place, zen 'ou'll 'ave to listen to w'at I 'ave to say.' Zen you agreed to zat…. Zerefore I won"
Hermione turned around, anger evident on her eyes. "I said you wouldn't be able to outdo Harry! You didn't, so you did not won!" Fleur smirked, she had analyzed this over and over again.
"But I did get ze highest marks!" she began smirking "And I'm in first place… zat was ze deal"
Hermione paled, logically, Fleur was right. But right now she was not ready to hear her out. "I will not listen to anymore lies" she said trying to leave Fleur there.
"Fine, if you refuse to acknowledge zat I won zis bet, its ok." She said, making Hermione stop in her tracks, was Fleur actually giving up? That didn't make sense, so she turned around locking her eyes with Fleur's, who smirked at her and then added "You still owe me a date. You'll 'ave to listen then" said Fleur heading to the staircase and leaving Hermione stunned.
After a few minutes there, Hermione snapped out and headed to the Hall to meet with Ron and Harry.
"So, how are things with your not so muggle girlfriend?" asked Ron having being briefed by Harry on what was going on.
"Really!" yelled Hermione "She's not my girlfriend and she'll never be! She can keep the book, I don't care anymore!"
Harry eyed her curiously but she dismissed him and didn't tell him what had happened. When they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with ceers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface.
Harry helped himself to food and sat down with Ron and Hermione.
"Blimey, this is heavy" said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table. "Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"
"He's supposed to work out the clue on his own" Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules…"
"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too" Harry muttered so only Hermione could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily.
Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and prised it open. The moment that happened, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing filled the room.
"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands overe his ears. Harry compelled.
"Sounded like a banshee… Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry" said Seamus Finnigan.
While everyone began to make theories about what it was and what it meant, Fred took Hermione's hand and lead her away of prying ears.
"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" he asked her
Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned.
"It's alright" he said "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch…"
Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed.
"Just my little joke, Neville…"
"Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?" she asked him while taking a jam tart
"Yep" said Fred, grinning at her. He put a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf "Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!"
"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice
"Easy" said Fred "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and…" he stopped and looked suspiciously at her "Why?"
"Nothing" Hermione said quickly
"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George who had joined them. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"
Hermione sighed a no in response. "Just going to hide in there" she said sadly when no one was paying attention.
Over the next few days Hermione didn't spent time with her friends, they only saw her in classes and sometimes in the corridors, but never enough time to chat. Harry was getting worried and told Ginny and the twins about their encounter with Fleur in the Owlery. Fleur too had being trying to talk to Hermione, specially now that neither of her friends were around her, but the brunette just disappeared whenever she thought she had her cornered.
Ron was oblivious to all that. He knew his friend was hurting, but didn't quite understood it.
"At least we didn't get homework" he began after Trelawney's lesson "I hope Hermione got loads off Professor Vector, I love not working when se is…"
But once again, Hermione wasn't at dinner, nor was she in the library when they went to look for her afterward. The only person in there was Viktor Krum. Ron hovered behind the bookshelves for a while, watching Krum, then they left.
"Wonder where she's got to?" Ron said as he and Harry went back to the Gryffindor Tower.
"Dunno…"
"Harry!" sound of racing feet behind them announced Hermione's arrival. She panted, skidding to a halt beside them "Harry, you've got to come… you've got to come, the most amazing thins's happened, please…"
"You finally got together with the veela?" asked Ron
Hermione winced, but seized Harry's arms and started to try to drag him back along the corridor.
"What's the matter?" Harry said
"I'll show you when we get there… oh come on, quick"
Harry looked at Ron who looked back intrigued at him. "Okay" Harry said, starting off back down the corridor with Hermione, Ron hurrying to keep up.
"Hermione, where are we going?" asked Harry
"You'll see in a minute!" said Hermione excitedly
She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through a door, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly food.
"Oh hang on..." said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor "Wait a minute, Hermione…"
"What?" she turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.
"I know what this is about" said Harry. He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione, it showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.
"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"
"No, no, I'm not!" she said hastily "and it's not spew, Ron…"
"Changed the name, 'ave you?" said a voice at one side of the room.
Fleur knew this was where Hermione had being disappearing over the last couple of days. She had lost track of her here, so she decided to wait there in order to see what happened, where she went and when she came back.
"What is it now zen? 'ous-elf Liberation Fron?" Asked Fleur smirking. Ron had went purple again, Harry stood there not knowing what was going on, while Hermione glared at her. "I'm not going to…"
"I'm not asking anything of you!" Said Hermione impatiently. "I came down here to, well, it does not matter now" she said turning her attention to Harry again. "And I found… oh, com on Harry, I want to show you!"
She seized his arm again, pulled him in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger and tickled the huge green pear. I began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open and pushed Harry hard in the back, forcing him inside. Hermione seized then Ron and pushed him in to. Then she turned her back to Fleur, who grabbed her by the wrist.
"I'll go too" she said simply following Hermione inside.
Fleur was stunned, as were Harry and Ron. They were watching the glittering brass pots and pans around the stone walls, when something small hurtled toward Harry from the middle of the room, squealing. "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"
Next second Harry had been knocked on the floor as the squealing elf hit him hard in the midriff, hugging him so tightly, Hermione thought his ribs would break.
"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.
"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!"
Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. Hermione grinned happily, she knew they both were going to be happy.
"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"
"Winky?" said Harry "She's here too?"
"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen. At least a hundred elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them. They were wearing all the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied like a toga.
Fleur watched silently her Chosen, she noticed the happiness that produced her seeing her friends antiques. The veela did not know that they were friends with a house-elf, and it amazed her how her Chosen related to everyone. She did not discriminate at all, and she was kind to every one, maybe except to her, but in a way, Fleur knew she deserved it.
A few of the house-elves were gathering around and one of them gave Hermione a cookie.
"You look happy today miss, happy you look" said the house-elf. Hermione smiled at her taking the cookie and giving her peck on her cheek.
"Thanks Yeauxy… I am, look!" She said pointing toward Harry and Dobby.
Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.
"Winky, sir!" he said
Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in for her large ears.
"Hello, Winky" said Harry
Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of the great brown eyes and splashed down her front, as it had happened at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Oh dear" said Hermione. "Winky, don't cry, please don't…"
But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.
"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.
"Er… yeah, okay" said Harry
Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, Fleur and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.
"Good service!" Ron said in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves looked all delighted; they bowed very low and retreated. Except for Yeauxy, who took Hermione's hand and led her a little away from her friends. Fleur watched this but payed attention to Harry's and Dobby's chat.
"Is it her, about it?" asked Yeuxy to Hermione, referring to Fleur.
Hermione nodded, amazed that the house-elves were all so perspective. Over the days she had been hiding in the kitchen, she had watched them work, they actually seemed happy which annoyed her, but she soon desisted of her ideas of insurrection with them. She had managed to convince a few of them to ask Dumbledore permission to visit relatives once every six months, but aside from that, she hadn't managed to change their way of thinking. After she gave up, they began to treat her fine again, they all liked her, and saw that she was somehow suffering. She usually made her homework on a far end of the kitchen not getting in their way while they worked. She soon made friends with Yeauxy and told her and other house-elves around, what she was feeling for a certain veela-girl.
"Miss is pretty" said Yeauxy
"Yeah, she is" acknowledge Hermione with a sigh. Then she added. "I won't be able to come here now"
"Why, miss? You is not happy here?" said another house-elf that was near them.
"I am, and I appreciate all you've done for me" said Hermione in a low voice
"Then why is you not visitin' us again?" asked Yeauxy
"Because they now know where to find me, and I don't want them to… specially not her" she said heading back toward her friends.
"Winky is a disgraced elf!" squeaked Winky "And Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"
"Ahamed?" said Hermione blankly "But… Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you…"
But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat."You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"
"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter" squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it"
"Can't house-elves speak their minds abut their masters, then?" Harry asked
"Oh no, sir, no." said Dobby looking suddenly serious "Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir."
"We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them" said Yeauxy, who had come back to be near Hermione. Dobby nodded in agreement
"But Dobby likes professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him" said Dobby
"But you can say what you like about the Malfoy's now?" Harry asked him, grinning
"Dobby… Dobby could" he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were… were… bad Dark wizards!"
Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring, he sushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Fleur laughed at that, but composed herself rather quickly when she noticed Hermione glaring at her. Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away of the table.
"Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you" said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.
"You just need a bit of practice"
"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself Dobby! Talking that way about your masters!"
"The isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"
"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more.
Yeauxy shook her head, said her goodbyes to Hermione and left them alone. The two elfs with them had arrived just yesterday night, and were really annoying, she didn't want to have anything to do with freed house-elves, even if they were Miss's friends.
"My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help!" She buried her face in her skirt again.
"Winky" said Hermione "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know…"
"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt. "You is seeing him her at Hogwarts?"
"Yes" said Fleur intervening for the first time "'E and Mr. Bagman are judges in ze Triwizard Tournament" she finished smiling at the elf
"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky and to Hermione's great surprise (and Ron'z and Harry's too by the looks on their faces) she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"
"Bagman, bad?" said Harry
"Oh yes" Winky said, nodding her head furiously "My master is telling Winky somethings! But Winky is not saying… Winky, Winky keeps her master's secrets…"
She dissolved yet again in tears while Harry and Dobby chatted happily about his life as a fee elv and his plans for his wages.
As they prepared to leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at them, but Harry, Ron and eve Fleur, loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.
"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say goodnight "See you Dobby!"
"Harry Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.
"Course you can" Said Harry and Dobby beamed
Once outside the kitchens Ron and Harry walked a few paces behind Hermione and Fleur, both concerned about her friend.
"So, 'ow did you meet Dobby?" asked Fleur, hoping that this could be considered by her Chosen as a safe subject, for now.
"In our second year, he warned Harry about the plot Malfoy had?"
"Ferret Malfoy?" asked Fleur disbelieving. Hermione shook her head.
"Lucius Malfoy, he…" she began to tell Fleur the story about the chamber of secrets, not realizing when they were both left alone. They reached the castle entrance by the end of the tale. Fleur was amazed at what she had heard, Tom Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets… It's entrance nowhere else than where she had heard her Chosen tell her name to Fleur.
When Hermione realized where she was, she turned around looking for her friends, who weren't there. "I'm so going to kill them when I see them, that is conspiracy against me". Thought Hermione to herself, getting nervous by Fleur's proximity.
"Will you listen to me now?" asked Fleur in a pleading tone. Hermione nodded her head, feeling ashamed for causing Fleur so much pain. "I didn't tell you I'm veela because zere's somezing about us zat no book will tell you"
Hermione looked up and for the first time in what seem years, she let herself loose her gaze in Fleur's eyes, which were shinning with hope and something more, something she couldn't quite place.
Fleur leaned down, refusing to let go. She was inches apart of Hermione's lips. "I won't give up on us" She said, closing the gap between them.
Hermione wasn't sure of what was happening, she felt a need to embrace Fleur and kiss her senseless, yet she also felt a hatred towards her. She was not going to let go that easily, specially after Fleur's last words. Just before their lips met, she turned her face and Fleur's lips stamped into her cheek. Hermione stepped back and was about to insult Fleur when a gasp was heard behind her. Hermione turned around while Fleur looked up, and found themselves staring into Snape.
"It is late and you both should have been in your dorms two hours ago." He said determined. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention for you Miss Granger. Now, go. To. Your. Dorm." Said Snape marking each word.
Hermione turned to see Fleur, who simply smiled apologetically at her, then, angry again the brunette said "I do hate you. Leave me alone!" and then she went to the staircase. She managed to hear Snape's voice director to Fleur before climbing up.
"I thought I had made my self clear" said Snape
Hermione pondered that for a second before archiving it at the back of her head and going to the Gryffindor Tower.
A/N: Leave your reviews and let me know what you think so far.