Author: Lash_Larue
Title: "Not Fate" Chapter Eleven of 28
Pairing: none now, Fleur Delacour and Hermione Granger are featured
Rating: R
Summary:A shoe falls
Warnings: Angsty, non-epilog compliant
Word Count: 2680
Disclaimer: These characters belong to JK Rowling
A/N: Sorry for the delay, I guess you knowwhat happened.
"Not Fate"
Chapter Eleven
Hermione dragged herself out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and feelings that were impossible to sort out, and her body was every bit as confused. Because she was British, she went and made a cup of tea. She sat numbly at the table and drank it down, heedless of the pain from the heat of it.
Then she stared into the cup at the dregs as if she hoped to read her future there.
How could she have not realized it was Gabrielle? True, she had not expected Gabrielle to climb into her bed, nor had she expected Fleur to. She had merely wanted it with all of her being. And the scent had been indisputably Fleur's.
"Oh God," she whispered as she realized what Gabrielle must have seen her doing. She could not bring herself to blame Gabrielle for accepting what must have looked like an invitation. She was also honest enough to admit that it had been amazing, miles beyond any sexual experience of her life. Perfect, in fact, except for that one detail. How could she not have known? Had she known? Was this another case of taking what she could get? Would Fleur find out? What would she think if she did?
Hermione did not look up when she heard footsteps enter the kitchen; she kept her eyes inside the cup. The mess of tea leaves at the bottom of the cup looked precisely like a mess. Perhaps there was something to reading tea leaves after all. By the sounds, someone else was making a cup of tea, and whoever it was sat down across the table from her.
"Are you all right?" It was Fleur's voice, full of concern. Hermione shook her head mutely.
"Are you injured? Gabrielle is concerned."
"Great, she went running to big sister," Hermione thought, but she shook her head to deny injury.
"That is good. I apologize, Gabrielle can be – impulsive. You attract her powerfully, and when she saw you, well…"
Hermione pushed the cup aside and lowered her forehead to the table, interlacing her fingers over the back of her head to keep it from flying off.
"Please do not be angry, perhaps she misunderstood, but she felt that you responded to her touch, do you see?"
Hermione snorted. "Responded", like that even touched on her reaction.
"She did respond," Gabrielle insisted from the kitchen doorway.
"Oh let's call the neighbors, why don't we?" Hermione thought. "I already feel like the punch line to a dirty joke."
"She was glorious! Magnificent! I have never witnessed such passion! Nevair!" Gabrielle's accent tended to thicken when she was upset. "I can still feel her squeezing my fingers!"
"Will no benevolent God take pity, and strike me dead?" pleaded Hermione, but at least she was talking. Fleur had been afraid that she was in shock, and was still concerned about it.
"Is this correct? You enjoyed her touch?"
Hermione was done talking for a while, she was also far beyond embarrassment, and had left outright mortification several exits back. She did, however, manage to nod her head in an affirmative. Hermione was simply too honest to lie, and she had enjoyed it.
"I told you so," Gabrielle said, "she was-"
A gesture and a severe look from Fleur silenced her; somehow Fleur felt that Hermione had heard enough praise of her sexual magnificence. She was not wrong.
"Then why push her away? Why are you so distraught?" Fleur asked gently.
"Distraught" thought Hermione, "at least we're creeping up on it."
"Can you tell me?" Fleur asked again, even more gently.
Hermione unlaced her fingers and picked through the tangled hair on her neck, unclasped the locket, and slid it across the table towards Fleur. She replaced her hands quickly, before her head could escape.
Fleur took up the locket and stared at it, she had no idea how this was supposed to answer the question.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Fleur acknowledged, "but what –"
She stopped speaking, because Hermione's hands were moving again. Hermione extended her arms and placed her hands together as if in prayer, then she swung them as if opening a book. She kept doing it. Fleur looked to Gabrielle in confusion.
"I think she wants you to open it," Gabrielle ventured. Hermione gave her a thumbs up, and then put her hands back on her head. She could almost feel her feet again; at least Fleur didn't seem angry with her.
Fleur opened the locket and saw the picture of herself.
"I remember this! The orchids were so beautiful, but -oh! Oh! I see! I understand! It is because she is my sister! You are afraid that I will disapprove! Hermione my dove, nothing could be further from the truth! I would be overjoyed if Gabrielle found love with you! Nothing could be better!"
Hermione spoke not a word, but began to slowly, rhythmically, and relentlessly bang her head on the table. Fleur turned again to Gabrielle, and Gabrielle came and stood behind her, slipping a potholder in between Hermione's head and the table on the way. She looked at the locket and saw Fleur's picture in it.
"Fleur, tu es bete! Completement bete ! Hermione is not upset because she thought that you would disapprove, she is upset because she thought that I was you! She is in love with you, you ninnyhammer!"
Hermione's left hand shot out, the index finger pointing unerringly at Gabrielle. Slowly she raised her head until her chin was resting on the table, and her eyes found Fleur's. With her right hand she tapped the end of her nose with her index finger. Then she put her face back to the table and resumed holding her head in place.
"In love with me? That cannot be, how could she be in love with me?"
The head pounding resumed.
"I know that she loves me, of course, but in love with me? I would know, you know that I would know, Gabrielle. I am Veela!"
"Imbecile," Gabrielle said, "you are shielding her, aren't you? Stop it."
"Oh." Fleur said softly.
"Cease beating your head on my table, Hermione," Gabrielle ordered. "Let us sort this out. You are a grown woman, as I have good reason to know. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and certainly nothing to be embarrassed about. Quite the contrary, you should be proud, you are –"
"Please stop, Gabrielle," Hermione requested, but she did sit up straight. "I'll be proud later, but right now I have to compose myself enough to go home. My time here is up today. I have to leave in a matter of hours."
"No, you do not. Your lease may be finished, but my week is just starting. We have time to resolve this, and I promise you that no one is leaving this house until we have. I know that you are a great witch, so is Fleur, but I am Ministry Special Forces. Neither of you is going anywhere until I say so. Do you understand?"
Hermione naturally turned her eyes towards Fleur for confirmation, although something told her that Gabrielle was speaking the unvarnished truth.
And then her eyes met Fleur's, and she looked into them truly for the first time. All of her thoughts, all of her feelings for Fleur poured through her eyes into Fleur's, and from there into Fleur's heart. It was unlike Legilimency, for nothing was being taken. Rather, it was being accepted.
"This is true?" Fleur breathed. "You are in love with me?"
"Yes," Hermione answered.
"How long?"
"Years, but I only came to realize it while you were at the institute with me."
"You said nothing, not even here, with all the time we have had alone together. Why not?"
"You love me Fleur, I know that. But you said it yourself, like a sister. I'm glad for that love, I need it, but that is not how I see you."
"Bete, bete, bete," muttered Gabrielle, 'you should have known, Fleur. This is your fault, not mine. If you had not shielded her you would have known, and so I would have known. And I would not have – on further thought, I am glad; I would not have missed that for anything. She is a goddess. But this is still your fault."
"You smelled just like her, and I've never come across that scent anywhere else, and what did you mean, she "shielded" me," Hermione asked, her thirst for knowledge at least momentarily overcoming her mortified state.
"That scent is something mother had made for us," Gabrielle explained, "our body chemistry is similar enough that there is almost no difference, even if you are – close."
"Oh. What about the shielding?"
"It is something Veela do," Fleur began, "you know of course, that Veela are highly sensitive to emotions?"
"Right," Hermione scoffed. That earned her a small smile, and even now that set her heart pounding.
"That is why we shield some people. This sensitivity is a protection for us; it allows us to pick up dangerous feelings, violent urges. Some people react dangerously to the Veela influence. But it can interfere with some relationships. It is normal to have certain – feelings – for a person you care for, and everyone occasionally has idle erotic thoughts about their friends. It is normal and healthy, and usually harmless, but it can be uncomfortable for us. How would you have felt, if, for instance, when we were walking through the greenhouse you had "heard" me wondering what your breasts would feel like?"
"Ready," Hermione said instantly.
"Perhaps the wrong example, but do you see my point?" Hermione admitted that she did. "I shielded you long ago, and never took it off. But that means that I trust you completely, I would never spend time alone with someone I had shielded if I did not trust them with my life."
"But it doesn't mean that you love me like I love you, does it?" Hermione asked.
"No, but neither does it mean that I do not. I am overwhelmed; this is a very big, very important thing between us."
"I certainly agree there," Hermione assured her.
"I will need time, Hermione. Even if I had known of your true feelings back in Hawaii, I would still need time. I have made progress, but I still have more work to do on me before I am fit to commit to another. And I know that I love you too much to treat this lightly. May I have some time?"
"I want to give you my soul, Fleur," Hermione told her, "I can surely give you some time."
"And what of me?" Gabrielle demanded. "Do neither of you care about my feelings?"
"Are you in love with her, Gabrielle?" Fleur asked calmly.
"I do not know, exactly," Gabrielle admitted. "I want her. Desperately, but that's not the same thing."
"Whatever for, if it is primarily a physical thing?" asked Hermione in genuine astonishment. "You could have anyone. You're as beautiful as Fleur is."
"Merci, but you told me to stop saying those things," Gabrielle answered her. "Have you changed your mind? I am not shielding you either, and your feelings for me are not precisely those of a sibling at this moment."
Hermione's head hit the table again.
"Well, Hermione? Do you want Gabrielle? I have already said that I do not mind," Fleur reminded her. "What do you wish to do?"
"Oh dear God," Hermione muttered. "I want you, Fleur. I thought that I had you, and it was beyond wonderful." Gabrielle gave a satisfied smile. "I'm confused, and yes, Gabrielle, I am still quite aroused, which I find astonishing given the circumstances. Since it's all out in the open now, I see three possible alternatives for me at this time, if you will not allow this to simply be forgotten. Will you?"
"Non, I have said this already," Gabrielle.
"I am sorry to increase your discomfort, Hermione, but I too feel this must be resolved, at least to some degree. It is simply too important to ignore," Fleur told her.
"Very well, and please remember that you asked what I wanted, I am hardly at my best just now." Hermione drew a deep breath, and tried to assume a professorial mien.
"Option one, and this would be my preference; Fleur, you come with me right now and we make love. This is not a one time offer; if you're not ready I understand and am willing to wait. If you aren't interested, and you know that you aren't interested in me in that way, just tell me so. There will never be a better time, I am beyond shock or hurt at the moment."
"Option two, and this does have an undeniable appeal. Gabrielle and I go back to my room and finish what we started. If that's it, I recommend earplugs, because she's not wrong about the state of my libido, and she certainly does know what to kiss and when to kiss it. But – if it would bother you in the least, for any reason whatsoever, given that I want nothing more than to spend my life loving you and only you, let me know. It might irk Gabrielle but she's a big girl. And I don't usually do casual sex, but these are special circumstances. Come to that, sex with Gabrielle can scarcely be described as casual."
"Merci."
"Pray don't mention it."
"And the third option?" Fleur asked, still quite calm.
"I go back to my room and do what I've been doing when I have had to ever since you stayed with me at the institute. I bury my face in something that smells like you and masturbate until my brain boils. God above, I cannot believe that I am saying these things." She heaved a huge sigh.
Fleur gnawed on her bottom lip as she thought. Gabrielle sighed as well after a while, and slowly shook her head.
"Merde," Gabrielle said.
"I am sorry Gabrielle, it is truly selfish of me, and I have no right to do it, but…"
"Very well, Fleur. But I warn you, if you falter, if you take too long, I will go to her and try my best," Gabrielle promised.
"D'accord, and thank you for understanding."
"What did I miss?" Hermione asked.
Fleur said nothing, and for the first time Hermione noticed that she was wearing only panties and a camisole. She swallowed audibly, and then Fleur stood and pulled the camisole off and handed it to Hermione.
"I am not yet ready," Fleur admitted, "but I find that I am too selfish to share you in this way just now without pain, even with Gabrielle. The choice is still yours, but if you choose option three, I want to help." Hermione clutched the camisole to her breast and stared.
"You are not playing fair, Fleur, but I am not going to be the villain here," Gabrielle declared. "Hermione, if you want me you know where I am. If you wait too long, I will be finished; I am not precisely relaxed myself. Fleur, I love you too much to put pressure on Hermione while she is so vulnerable, and in any case I prefer to be appreciated for myself alone. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have personal business to attend to." She left.
"You really don't want me to be with anyone else?" Hermione asked.
"I do not. It is not fair, I admit it, and tomorrow I shall not ask where you spent tonight."
Hermione stood and removed her t-shirt, and handed it to Fleur.
"Just in case," she said, and she turned and went into her room, locking the door audibly.
Fleur stood for a few moments staring after her, and then she went to her own room, and a cloud descended on her as she went.