A/N: Hello once more. I must apologise profusely for the long delay. I have had exams to mark over the last few weekends, which has taken up all my time. However, now I am back and pleased to report that I also feel like my old self again. I must thank you for the kind words I received. Depression is never an easy thing, but the support and kind words from you were part of what helped me through. Thank you also for all the follows, favourites and reviews. To those of you I haven't replied to yet, who have written reviews, I am trying to get around to it. Here is the next chapter and I really hope you enjoy this one. There is a slight time jump and I also want to say that I haven't forgotten the mysterious figure at the end of the last chapter. She will reappear eventually. She is a character that will appear, if not in this story then certainly the planned sequels. Anyway enough of my waffle, I hope you enjoy. Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Sabine who is mine.
Trees and rolling fields flew past the window as Hermione stared out, lost in thought. She had left the Delacour residence after tearful goodbyes to both her parents and Fleur. Reluctant was an understatement for how the brunette felt about returning to Hogwarts and living under the same roof as Umbridge.
She had thoroughly enjoyed the festive break and had even got a cheeky kiss from Fleur on New Year's Eve. It had been relaxing for the second part of the holidays compared to the chaos and rush of Christmas and the Ball. Hermione and Fleur had danced the night away and spent the rest of the holiday trying to ignore the brunette's return to Hogwarts.
Now Hermione was staring gloomily out of the Hogwarts Express as it moved quickly up north. Sabine was sat opposite, reading a copy of The Quibbler. From her expression it was clear she thought the entire thing was ridiculous. Hermione sighed in resignation, causing the dark-haired Veela to roll her eyes and give a slight shake of the head.
"For goodness sake," exclaimed Sabine. "You've only been separated for five minutes. Soon enough you will be back together again."
Hermione remained looking out of the window for a moment, before turning and facing Sabine.
"I know and I'm sorry. I just can't help it. I keep thinking about what an amazing Christmas we've had and now we are returning to Umbridge."
Sabine looked concerned. "Are you worried about seeing her again after what she said to you before you left?"
Hermione nodded.
"Show her that ring on your finger that will shut up that old toad," laughed Sabine.
The brunette gave a weak smile.
"What?" asked the dark-haired Veela.
"It's just...I don't want to make it seem like Fleur gave it to me for that reason or that I accepted just to keep Umbridge off my back..."
"No one thinks that," interrupted Sabine. "Besides if it makes you feel any better, Fleur had been talking about giving you that ring since the summer."
"Really?" Hermione asked, stunned at this new piece of information.
Sabine nodded. "She mentioned it to us after you arrived during the summer."
"Oh, so you were talking about me behind my back?" said Hermione, with a mock glare.
"Yes," smirked Sabine. "And we still do."
The dark-haired Veela laughed at the indignant look on the brunette's face. Hermione opened her mouth to comment, but stopped when the sliding door of their compartment opened. She smiled when Harry and Ron entered.
"Alright Mione," greeted Harry. "Good holiday?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, it was good, thank you. How is your dad doing Ron? Did you boys enjoy the break?"
"He's much better," replied Ron. "He's out of hospital now."
"We had a good time at Grimmauld Place, although Sirius got very moody towards the end," said Harry.
"You'll never guess what Harry's got to do?" interrupted Ron. "He has to start Occulmency lessons with Snape."
"What?" replied Hermione, incredulously.
Harry nodded grimly. "Yea, he came around and told me that Dumbledore wants me to start tomorrow night."
"Well you will just have to make the best of it Harry, I'm afraid. The quicker you master it, the sooner you can be rid of Snape.," the brunette said reassuringly.
She brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, when Ron suddenly grabbed her hand.
"Where did you get that rock?" asked Ron, sounding astonished. "Are you getting married to Fleur?"
Hermione laughed at the complete look of shock on both of the boys' faces. "No we aren't getting married, at least not yet anyway. It's a promise ring that she's given me. It's a sign that I am part of the Coven and that she will propose to me some day."
"Wow, that's huge Hermione," said Harry.
Hermione nodded. "It is, but I love her."
Both boys nodded in understanding. They had watched over the past year as their best friend had fallen in love with the blonde Veela.
The rest of the journey was spent discussing each other's holidays and planning upcoming DA sessions. As darkness settled, they took it in turns to change into their school robes. Once at the station they disembarked and clambered into one of the horse-less carriages. Sabine joined them again, but unlike when they arrived for the first day, the dark-haired Veela followed them into the Great Hall, sitting beside Hermione at the Gryffindor table.
As soon as she sat down, Hermione looked up to the top table and locked eyes with Umbridge. It was clear the older witch had watched the brunette since she had entered. The evil look in Umbridge's eye told Hermione that she was still on the High Inquisitor's hit list.
Trying not to think about the next conversation she would have with Umbridge, Hermione tucked into her dinner and laughed along with the others at the Weasley twins' antics.
XXXXX
Sure enough the following day Umbridge caught up with Hermione. The brunette was amazed that it had taken until after dinner for the High Inquisitor to find her. Indeed Umbridge had even refrained from passing comment during that afternoon's Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. Not that Hermione had given her a chance. She had practically ran from the classroom when the bell went. Sabine had left after dinner, leaving Hermione to retreat from the Gryffindor Common Room where a furious back to school party was about to take place. She had settled herself into her favourite, secluded part of the library.
"Ah Miss Granger, there you are," simpered Umbridge, by way of greeting.
Hermione rolled her eyes, before looking up with as much disdain as she could muster.
"Professor," replied Hermione.
"As I understood it, Miss Granger, you spent the entirety of the Christmas holidays in the company of those half-breeds you call friends, amongst other things, despite my warning to you." Umbridge gave her little girlish laugh.
Hermione gave an involuntary shudder at the noise. "How I wish to spend my holidays is my own business," growled the brunette. "You should keep your opinion on such matters to yourself."
"Miss Granger, how dare you speak to the Minister's Undersecretary in such a way," shrieked Umbridge, ignoring the fact that they were in the library. "How dare you, a witch of your standard speak to me in such a..."
Umbridge stopped speaking mid-sentence and stared open-mouthed, reminding Hermione strongly of a toad. She had to fight back a laugh at the look on her Professor's face. It was only then she realised where the older witch was looking. Umbridge's gaze was firmly on the ring Fleur had placed on Hermione's finger. For a few moments neither made any sound, but soon enough the silence broke and Umbridge began to breathe heavily.
"What is the meaning of this, Miss...Miss Granger?" spluttered Umbridge, raising a stubby finger to point at the glistening ring.
"What does it look like?" replied Hermione, coldly.
"But...but...surely you understand what accepting that from a half-breed such as Delacour means?"
"I know exactly what it means," Hermione said, angrily standing up, not paying any attention to the chair, which had gone flying as soon as she stood up. "I accepted this ring from Fleur and one day I will accept her marriage proposal. Until that time I suggest you think carefully before speaking to me again. I will not allow you to..."
Hermione stopped, grasping at her chest. Her Veela, which had lain dormant all through Christmas, was coming to the surface once more. The sheer power the brunette could feel was shocking and Hermione immediately began to shake with the effort of trying to keep it at bay. Realising that Umbridge was still present and the danger the brunette posed to the surrounding area, Hermione grabbed her bag and fled.
She ran as fast as she could, all the while wrestling internally with her Veela. The force of it caused her to stop in the hallway and empty the contents of her stomach. She brushed a shaking hand across her face and when she drew it back she noticed blood on the back of her hand. Hermione dabbed at her nose and realised it was bleeding.
A surge of pain swept through her body, culminating in a scream which tore from her throat and echoed around the corridors. Her vision began to blur, but she knew she had to get out. Hermione could feel the Veela pounding away, desperate to be released after being controlled for so long over the Christmas break.
With sudden clarity, Hermione realised she was on the third floor and near the secret passageway to Hogsmeade. Stumbling around, the brunette eventually reached the statue. Waving a hand, she whispered the password, not even noticing the wandless magic she had just performed. Slipping through into the narrow passageway, Hermione focused on just putting one foot in front of the other. She kept repeating the same mantra in her head: "Just get to Sabine. Just get to Sabine."
The chill January air hit her as soon as she was outside of Honeydukes. She threw up once more, her head pounding, the Veela inside practically trying to tear its way out. How she maintained control, Hermione didn't know but, after what had felt like hours, she finally reached Sabine's door. She threw herself at it, raising a hand which felt like lead to knock on the door. She heard footsteps from within, followed quickly by the door opening and a blast of light.
Sabine looked confused for a moment, her face quickly changing to one of shock when she saw the state the brunette was in.
"Hermione, what..." she began.
"Veela," was all Hermione could say, before she finally surrendered to the pain.
XXXXX
The first thing that the brunette became aware of was someone patting a wet cloth on her forehead. She opened her eyes with some difficulty and blinked several times as the room came into focus. She tried to sit up, but a restraining hand stopped her. Blinking rapidly again, Hermione realised that the hand belonged to Sabine.
"Wh...What happened?" croaked Hermione.
"What's the last thing you remember?" murmured Sabine, still pressing the wet cloth to the brunette's forehead.
Hermione closed her eyes and tried to remember how she had ended up at the cottage. It all came back to her in a rush and she sat up, despite Sabine trying to force her back down. It was only then that Hermione noticed the state of the cottage.
Furniture had been torn apart and books and other items littered the floor from the hallway into the living room. Glass covered the floor in places and as she looked over to the front door she noticed that it was hanging from its hinges.
"I lost control again didn't I?" said Hermione, already knowing the answer.
Sabine nodded, gently giving the brunette's shoulder a nudge to get her to settle back down onto the couch.
"I'm guessing something made you angry and that's when your Veela made a reappearance," said the dark-haired Veela, not paying any attention to the state of her cottage.
Hermione just nodded, feeling guilt swirl in her stomach at the thought of what she had done to Sabine's possessions.
"I take it things got out of hand?" Hermione asked, wincing slightly as she saw a tear in a portrait of the family that hung over the fireplace. "I'm so sorry Sabine. Look what I did to your home and things."
The dark-haired Veela just shook her head. "You have nothing to apologise for."
The brunette nodded, but the guilt she felt still lingered. "How bad was it?"
"Well...all you said was 'Veela' and next thing I know you had fully transformed and went crazy. Your Veela threw herself at me and I transformed. It took a while for me to gain the upper hand, but eventually I managed to subdue her enough for you to regain control. You've been out for about half an hour now."
Hermione winced as she listened to what had happened. "I'm so, so sorry Sabine. I don't understand it. It's been fine for a while, but one little conversation with Umbridge and it all goes wrong."
"Umbridge? She came and spoke to you? I knew I should have stayed with you after dinner," growled Sabine.
The brunette placed a calming hand on the dark-haired Veela's arm. "Relax, I'm more than capable of handling myself. She saw the ring on my finger, so in theory she should back off for a while. Thankfully I managed to get away from her before I went full on Veela."
Sabine still didn't look happy about Umbridge, but relaxed a little. There were a few moments of silence, before Hermione broke it.
"Why has it reappeared now?" asked the brunette.
"The Veela would have bowed down over the Christmas holidays because it would have recognised that there were Veela of a higher position than you in the vicinity. Now however, there is only the two of us and I am not enough to contain it."
"So what am I going to do," groaned Hermione, tucking her head into her hands. "I can't transform every time someone makes me angry."
"I agree," said Sabine. "It also wouldn't do for anyone else outside of the family to find out about this. It could be used against you until you become united with your Veela."
"Well that happen soon?" asked Hermione, praying that it would.
"I don't honestly know. Remember you are an anomaly, but what I do know is that it will take time, but the clashing and fight for control between the two of you won't last forever."
"So no idea how long then?" Hermione pressed on.
The dark-haired Veela shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Although my Grandmere said that the more powerful you are the longer it will take, so I'm afraid it may be months rather than weeks."
"Months!" exclaimed Hermione. "I can't have this for months. I have school to attend and I bump into Malfoy nearly every lesson. I can't have him saying the wrong thing to me and then I go all Veela on his ass."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sabine couldn't help but laugh. "Relax Hermione, I will help you," reassured the dark-haired Veela. "It will take some training, but I can teach you control. I can also give you a potion that my Grandmere gave me just in case this happened."
"Julienne gave you a potion?"
"Yes. She wasn't sure if your Veela would appear, so I was given it in case it was needed. All it will do is control the Veela a little bit. That combined with the training should make the bonding process between the two of you a bit quicker."
The brunette nodded, beginning to calm down and feeling the knot of worry that had been building loosen. She looked around the room again, taking in all the damage she had caused. Sabine got up and with a wave of her wand the room repaired itself and the front door reattached itself.
"Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here tonight. I will send an owl to the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall informing them of what has occurred tonight. They have been made aware of the development of your Veela by my Grandmere, so tonight's events won't come as a complete surprise. We can then walk up to the castle together tomorrow morning. From now on I am not leaving your side, at least until your Veela has joined with you."
Hermione nodded. "Will that work?"
The dark-haired Veela nodded. "I will notice the signs of the Veela coming to the surface and I can perform a spell that will keep it under before anything happens." When the brunette looked startled, Sabine explained. "I can make it so no one knows what is going on."
Hermione nodded and sighed.
"It will get easier mon ami, I promise," reassured Sabine. "How about you go up to bed. I will just send a message to Fleur, who will be aware that something has happened thanks to your connection. I already messaged her earlier whilst you were out, but an update will calm my dear cousin down and at least make things easier for my Aunt and Grandmere."
Yawning, Hermione stood up on shaky legs. After taking a moment to steady herself, she began to make her way over to the stairs. As she reached them she turned back to look at the dark-haired Veela.
"Thank you Sabine, I don't know what I would do without you." Hermione smiled warmly at the older girl, before climbing the stairs to the spare room.
Once the brunette had disappeared upstairs and no more movement could be heard, Sabine reached for a flowerpot on the side and grabbed a small handful of Floo powder. Throwing it into the hearth she shouted the for the Delacour residence and placed her head into the flickering, emerald flames.
Her aunts, mother and Grandmere, along with a very worried looking Fleur, were all sat and turned as one when they heard the flames roar in the hearth.
"We have a problem," said Sabine. "Things are worse than we feared."