A/N: Whaaaat? Another update, what is this madness?! Thank you all for your amazing reviews. I woke up to them this morning and I was inspired to write another. I'm honestly amazed how awesome you guys are and as cliché as this sounds you are the ones that keep me writing. Your kindness in the comments and reviews you leave mean the absolute world to me (I know I say that every time, but I mean it). Now I don't do this often but I thought I should reply to everyone (I'm awful for not doing this, so I apologise profusely).
Aaron Leach: Thank you very much. I hope this next chapter is just as awesome for you.
Xisdax: Guess we will have to wait and see!
Zed: Glad you liked the revelation and you have no idea how happy your 'fantastic' comment made me!
Labstractl: Quick enough update I hope! I apologise now if the ending to this chapter garners the same reaction!
Klee.v: Thank you and we will have to wait and see what happens with Apolline
SH4DOW44: Why thank you. I'm glad the revelation was a good enough revelation though some of your ideas were actually really good. I did think "mmm maybe one of those would have been awesome!"
YesSir23: Thank you I'm so glad you like this story. It's going to be interesting to see the relationship between Fleur and her mother (whenever she decides to arrive).
As always thank you for every review, favourite or follow. The support this story has is truly overwhelming and would not exist without your ongoing support. Any mistakes are my own. Disclaimer: All right belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Now on with the show!
Hermione woke up the following day, still reeling slightly from Fleur's surprising revelations. There was no time to discuss the matter, the Second Task was only a day away and Harry still hadn't found anything to help him breathe underwater for an hour. Hermione hadn't had the chance to talk to Fleur about her sister's new relationship or the 'royalty' confession. She so desperately wanted to. She wanted to know when Fleur's mother was going to assess Hermione's suitability and how that was tested, but more importantly she wanted to tell Fleur that everything was fine. She knew she had told Fleur already, but she wanted to ensure that the blonde did not doubt her words. There was no time for that, Hermione was currently sat once more in the library with Harry and Ron pouring through book after book, looking for anything Harry could use. He was so desperate he was grabbing anything that was even remotely linked to water.
Hermione's eyes were glued to the page, her gaze flying back and forth at speed. She felt a sudden tingle on the back of her neck and looked up to see Fleur walking towards them. She was smiling at Hermione and the brunette couldn't help but smile back.
"Bonjour all," she whispered, aware that Madam Pince wasn't far away.
The boys looked up, startled at the voice. "Oh, hello Fleur," replied Harry. He gave a quick smile in greeting and then returned his attention to the book he was reading.
Fleur walked over to Hermione and gave a kiss. They heard Ron splutter and cough, but when they looked over his eyes were focused wholly on the page, although they could tell he wasn't reading. Hermione just rolled her eyes at his behaviour.
"Aren't you missing dinner," Hermione asked the blonde.
"Oui, but I figured that Harry might need my help more." She turned to face Harry, who had looked up at the sound of his name. "I can help if you want?"
Harry nodded eagerly. "Please, if it's not too much trouble," he croaked, his voice cracking from lack of use over the past few hours.
Fleur just nodded and sat down next to Hermione. She reached for the nearest book and started reading. They had been sitting in silence for the best part of two hours when the sounds of approaching footsteps disrupted their reading. They all looked up to see Professor McGonagall walking swiftly towards them. She had a serious look on her face and they all knew that nothing good could come of that. She stopped at the table, gazing at the mountainous pile of books they were reading through.
"Good evening," she said. "Miss Granger and Mr Weasley I need you to come with me." Hermione quickly exchanged a worried look with Fleur. McGonagall must have noticed, because she said, "don't worry, you're not in trouble, I just require you in my office."
Exchanging more worried looks with Fleur and Harry, Hermione and Ron followed their Head of House out of the library. Fleur and Harry looked at each other for a brief moment and then resumed their reading.
It was getting late and there was still no sign of Hermione or Ron. Glancing at her watch Fleur realised how late it was. She apologised to Harry and excused herself to go back to the carriage. If she did not get an early night before the next task, Maxime would hunt her down and drag her to back to the carriage. She wished Harry good luck and left, wondering what on earth was keeping Hermione.
She made it back to the carriage, receiving a rather stern look from Maxime as she made her way towards her room. She heard her Headmistress tutting and muttering in French. She expected to see Hermione when she got in her room, but instead Gabrielle was sat on her bed. Her sister looked up when she heard the door open and smiled weakly at her older sibling. They hadn't seen each other since Fleur had barged in and found Gabrielle with Ginny and the older blonde had a sneaking suspicion that her younger sister had been avoiding her.
"Hi," muttered Gabrielle meekly.
"Hi," replied Fleur.
Neither said anything more, they just avoided looking at each other. Finally they made eye contact. Gabrielle smiled weakly at Fleur and the older blonde started to laugh. Gabrielle eventually joined in and soon the two of them were laughing hysterically. Fleur walked over and hugged Gabrielle tightly. They broke apart and Fleur sat down next to her sister, holding her hand to show her support.
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything," said Gabrielle. "I just..."
"No, I'm sorry," interrupted Fleur. "I should have knocked for a start."
Gabrielle smiled and again they fell into silence once more.
"So..." said Fleur, attempting to break the awkwardness. "You and Ginny ay?"
Gabrielle blushed. "Erm yeah, yeah I guess so." She paused. "I would have told you eventually you know."
Fleur nodded. "I know that. So how serious is it?"
"Pretty serious," replied Gabrielle. "I mean I care about her...a lot and she feels the same. We're just...I don't know...taking it easy, I guess."
Fleur nodded again and they fell into a companionable silence.
"So do you fancy having a sleepover like old times?" suggested Fleur.
Gabrielle grinned. "Now that sounds like a plan."
Giggling like two little girls, Gabrielle and Fleur got changed, snuck in some treats and settled down to enjoy some sisterly bonding time. Despite the distraction her sister provided, Fleur couldn't help but worry about where Hermione was. Before she drifted off to sleep, her last thought was about the Second Task the following day.
All the way down to the lake the following morning, Fleur was looking out for Hermione, trying to catch a glimpse of the brunette. There was still no sign of her and the blonde was starting to get very concerned. This was unlike Hermione and she wondered, not for the first time, where she went with McGonagall the previous night and for what purpose. Gabrielle was with her at least. She saw Ginny and hurried off to say hello. Fleur got in one of the boats and made her way out into the middle of the lake with the rest of the school.
On the platform, she again looked for Hermione, but she was still nowhere to be seen. She caught Cedric's eye and gave him a nod, and shared a scowl with Krum. There was no sign of Harry either, which relieved Fleur slightly. Hermione could be with him. However, when Harry arrived at the platform, looking flushed and out of breath, Hermione was not with him. She made her way over to him.
"Have you seen Hermione anywhere?" she asked.
"No, you haven't seen her?" He was still catching his breath.
"No," muttered Fleur, biting her bottom lip in worry.
"I haven't seen Ron either, not since last night when McGonagall came and got them." Harry was beginning to look worried too and was gazing around, trying to catch a glimpse of either one of his best friends.
"What's this? Hermione and Ron are missing?" interrupted Cedric. He had clearly overheard their conversation. Fleur and Harry just nodded. "That's weird, Cho isn't here either. Professor Flitwick came and grabbed her last night and I haven't seen her since. It's funny because she said she would meet me this morning before the task."
Before they could continue their discussion Dumbledore's voice boomed out across the lake, making everyone jump.
"Welcome one and all to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament." There was a loud cheer as his voice sounded out. "Last night something was taken from each of the champions. This now resides at the bottom of the lake. They have one hour to retrieve..."
Fleur was no longer listening. Her blood had run cold at Dumbledore's words. She repeated his words in her head, "Something was taken from each of the champions." With sudden realisation Fleur understood where Hermione was. She stared into the inky depths of the lake and felt her Veela instincts roaring to life. Her Hermione was in who knew what danger at the bottom of the lake and the Veela in Fleur wanted her back. She had to fight to keep in control of her Veela. The sound of a cannon blasted out and Fleur dived in without any hesitation.
The icy water hit Fleur hard. It was bordering on painful. She quickly performed the Bubblehead charm she had learned and kicked out strongly. She was part-Veela and had been around water all her life as a result, so found swimming in the lake presented no challenge to her. She swiftly made her way through the murky water. She couldn't hear anything and was peering through the gloom for any sign of Hermione. Suddenly she felt a tug, as something gripped her from below, trying to drag her down. She kicked out furiously and, glancing down, saw a Grindylow had a hold of her ankle. Another fasten a tentacle around her neck, whilst more came forth trying to wrap her up, preventing her from reaching her Hermione. With this thought, her Veela was unleashed and attacked with a fury unlike no other.
Spell after spell was shot out of her wand until the Grindylows had shrunk away in fear to lick their wounds. Without hesitating she powered on through the water. Up ahead was a forest of weeds stirring in the gentle flow of the water. She paused for a second and then swam on with determination. As she swam in further she could hear soft singing coming from her right. She paused, straining her ears to listen and realised it was the song from the egg. Changing direction she began to swim towards the voice. As she came out of the forest of weeds she saw stone columns and the making of an underwater city in front of her. She cut through the water quickly, making her way through the eeriness. Out of the gloom, a statue of a giant merman appeared. At its base she could see four figures floating. She moved with surprising speed and as she got closer she recognised the figures became clearer. One was Harry who was treading water next to an unconscious Ron. Next to the redhead was a young boy she didn't recognise and next to him was...Hermione. Fleur shot towards the brunette, not paying any attention to Harry. Her only focus was grabbing Hermione and getting her to safety.
She fired a spell through the weed tying Hermione to the bottom of the lake, grabbed her hand and began swimming to the surface. She was furious, the Veela inside her was furious. She carefully supported Hermione swimming with determination to the surface. She could see light up ahead and knew the surface was not far.
A searing pain shot through her lower leg. Looking down she saw a half-man, half-shark had grabbed a hold of her ankle. She realised with sudden fury that it was Krum. The boy she didn't know, that she had seen at the statue, was being held by Krum. Fleur gave Hermione a gentle push in the direction of the surface, the pain in her leg causing her to pant heavily and wince. Krum was not letting go anytime soon. Once Hermione was safely out of the way, Fleur turned and kicked Krum hard in his shark face. He let go off her leg, but without missing a heartbeat she propelled herself towards him, using her body weight to hit him hard in the chest. She wrenched the boy free of Krum's grasp and pushed him towards the surface and out of harm's way. She glanced once more at Krum. He appeared to be winded from her second hit. Deciding that now was not the time to settle a petty family squabble; she turned and followed Hermione to the surface.
She pushed on hard, her leg screaming out in pain where Krum had bitten her. Just before she reached the surface she removed the Bubblehead charm. She broke through, gasping for air and immediately began looking around for Hermione. She saw her off to the right, spluttering. Fleur swam furiously towards Hermione and grabbed hold of her. The brunette squeaked slightly, but when she saw it was Fleur she began kissing her all over.
"Ma belle, ma belle, I'm fine. It's you I'm concerned about," spluttered Fleur.
"Oh my god, Fleur are you alright? I'm so sorry. McGonagall took us to her office and then Dumbledore said that he was going to put us into a sleep so you would find us at the bottom of the lake. Oh Fleur I'm sorry, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Hermione was speaking so fast Fleur could barely understand her.
Fleur could barely get a word in edgeways. "Ma belle," she finally said, louder than usual. "I am fine, although I just had a little disagreement with dear Mr Krum so I would like it very much if we could get out of the water, particularly as at this moment in time he is part shark."
Hermione stared at her in shock and then grabbed a hold of Fleur's arm and began pulling her through the water towards the platform. "I cannot believe him," she exclaimed. "The nerve of him and how underhanded, attacking another champion in the middle of a task. He should be disqualified immediately and someone should give him a stern talking to. And you," she turned to face Fleur, a furious look on her face. "You are going to have to explain whatever this squabble is. If I'm going to defend you against him then I have to be in possession of all the facts."
Fleur dared not disagree with her when she was in this protective mood. Hermione continued exclaiming all the way to the platform and then helped Fleur out of the water. She gasped when she caught sight of Fleur's leg and immediately shouted for Madam Pomfrey to come and help. Dumbledore was looking over at the commotion and looked furious when he saw the state of Fleur's leg. He saw Krum come out of the water, still half-transformed, put two and two together and stormed over to Karkaroff.
Hermione was holding Fleur's hand. She kept switching between staring daggers at Krum and whispering soothing words to Fleur. There really was no need; Madam Pomfrey had healed Fleur's legs in seconds. Hermione kissed Fleur's forehead as Gabrielle pushed her way through the gathered crowd.
"Fleur are you okay?" Clearly Gabrielle had been worried, there were nail marks on her cheeks were she had been gripping too tightly. "Fleur there's something you need to know..."
Before Gabrielle could continue Dumbledore's voice boomed out once more across the lake.
"All of our champions have returned with their stolen item. The winner of this task is...Cedric Diggory, who showed masterful use of the Bubblehead Charm and returned within the one hour time limit. In second place, and also using the Bubblehead Charm was Fleur Delacour. In third place is...Harry Potter after the superb use of Gillyweed. Mr Krum is hereby disqualified from this task for unsportsmanlike conduct."
There were boos from the Durmstrang boys at this announcement; Hermione meanwhile had a pout on her face. "HE should have been disqualified from the whole tournament." She scowled.
"Ma belle, I am fine honestly I am." Fleur spoke soothingly, trying to calm the brunette down. She looked as if she was seriously contemplating marching over and attacking Krum herself.
Harry came over, wrapped in towel and shivering furiously. "Well done Fleur, second place, not bad at all." He smiled, there were marks from a battle with a Grindylow on his neck, but apart from that he looked no worse for wear.
"Merci Harry, you did excellent as well."
Harry shrugged and went looking for Ron.
"Fleur," shouted Gabrielle. She looked frantic. "There's something I have to tell you..." A voice interrupted her.
"Ah there she is. That was an admirable performance. Now how about you introduce me to your companion."
Fleur's eyes had widened in shock. "Mother?"