A/N: I didn't want to leave it too long between posting chapters after the last one, so thought I'd squeeze in this one and not make you wait too long...
I love the character of Luna, but as of yet, I haven't thought of a story where she could be one of the main characters, but she's made appearances in most of my Potter stories(even the ones I haven't posted).
21: Luna Eclipse
Luna had found herself outside a lovely-looking farmhouse in the French countryside. With her ancestor's diaries under one arm, she had knocked on the door, but when there was no answer she decided to walk in. Hermione had chosen her to help - had literally reached out to her - and Fleur's and Hermione's lives were at stake, therefore the usual courtesy and manners had to be momentarily pushed aside.
She found no one downstairs and climbed the stairs. "Hello?" she called as she reached the landing, definitely hearing voices, but from both left and right. She also heard a rhythmic sound, like a clock ticking, but not a clock. "Hello!?" she said more loudly.
A door that had been ajar opened further and a very tall blonde woman walked out. "And you are?"
"Hi, you must be either Stefanie, or Fleur's grandmother," said Luna. "Hermione has sent me."
"What? Did you arrive earlier? Are you one of her friends?"
"I'm her friend, but I only just got here," explained Luna. "Hermione wanted me to come here, and it's urgent. But together we think we have a plan."
"What? I don't...?" Stefanie was very tired and now she was very confused.
"Luna?!" said a voice from the other side of the landing. It was Harry.
"Hi, Harry."
"You're Luna?" asked Stefanie, and when the younger woman nodded she said, "I've heard you mentioned before. But how are you even here?"
"Hermione called me to the church - you know in that other place." At that point Stefanie's eyebrows climbed her forehead. "Anyway, we talked there, mostly about my ancestor's diaries - my ancestor stayed with veelas regularly and wrote about it - and we have a plan that might work."
"Might work?" questioned Stefanie.
"Hermione told me that both she and Fleur are dying," Luna said calmly.
"How do you know that?"
"She told me," replied Luna. Even the normally docile Ravenclaw was feeling frustration biting at her heels.
"They're both dying?" Harry asked, his throat suddenly dry.
"Okay, let me make this faster," said Luna. "Hermione told me what to say, but I need Bill and Ron here too." Both men were called, although another woman and an older woman appeared on the landing too, whom she didn't know, but assumed the older lady was Fleur's grandmother. Luna then told Harry, Ron and Bill the things Hermione had given her to say, to prove the validity of her appearance.
"All right, we've established that Luna isn't making anything up," said Harry. "I see no reason why she would be, anyway."
"There isn't a lot of time," said Luna. "This is what is happening and what might be the only way to help..."
Luna told them all about the plan and the quick reasoning as to why it might work, as well as her ancestor's input, gesticulating to the diaries she had under her arm. When it got to the fact that Fleur had implanted a piece of her soul into Hermione when she was at Shell Cottage, Ron had been about to say something, but Bill had nudged him and told him to be quiet.
"So, the plan is to kill Hermione with that sword, revive her, as Fleur will be dead, and then Hermione implants a piece of her soul into Fleur to help her recover as we try to revive her too?" queried Stefanie.
"The sword ensures that Fleur's soul particle is killed and can no longer affect Hermione," said Luna."...but it also means both of them shouldn't be dead for longer than a moment."
"What do you think, Aimée?" asked Stefanie.
"If you're asking for my professional opinion, then I have no knowledge of this. If you're asking for my personal opinion then I'm worried, VERY worried...but...nothing we're doing now is making a difference. I would be prepared to try it," said the older veela, solemnly.
"Sophie? What do you think?" Stefanie asked her partner.
"Me? This is out of my league," replied the dark-haired doctor. "I will be there for whatever you think I can help with. It sounds crazy, but I agree with Aimée that it might be the only choice we have, or definitely lose them both. I can certainly help with trying to bring them back, using medicines and equipment I have here."
"Bill?" Aimée asked this time.
"It's madness," he said, but continued. "...but I trust Hermione and I trust Luna. If this is the only way then it has to be tried."
"This has similarities with Voldemort, and my being his horcrux," said Harry. "The only way that problem was sorted out was by death. I don't want to lose Hermione and Fleur, we have to try something and I trust Hermione and Luna too."
"We're all agreed then?" Stefanie asked the group.
"No we're not!" said Ron. "You want to kill Hermione, to kill Fleur, then hope you can bring back Hermione in the hope she can bring back Fleur? It's too many 'hopes'. People wake up from comas all the time, Hermione might too. What if they stay dead...you would have killed them both?!"
"This is like no coma I've ever seen before," said Sophie, and her partner nodded her head in agreement. "We're monitoring Hermione, but all her vital signs are gradually getting worse, with no sign of any injury, or anything obvious that can be causing it. She's dying, as is Fleur, and that will happen unless we do something."
"We have to try it," said Harry. "It will be hard, but we have to try. I don't want to see either of them just waste away and we didn't even give them this chance."
Stefanie took that for assent; she didn't give much credit to Ron, and he was in the minority. "I think it might be best if we had them side by side while we do this."
"Hermione's all hooked up to the equipment," said Sophie. "That might be very helpful in keeping track of things, so I would suggest bringing Fleur to her room."
"I'll see to that," said Stefanie, as she went back to Fleur's room.
"I appreciate that you all care and love Fleur and Hermione, but we don't want a room full," said Aimée. "We only need the people actually involved with the procedure. It will be myself, Stefanie, Sophie and Luna. The rest of you will have to wait out here, or downstairs."
"Luna's only just arrived and she gets to go in the room?" asked a very frustrated Ron.
"She's spoken with Hermione, helped create the plan and she has her ancestor's diaries. We need her...besides, she has veela blood," said Aimée, knowingly.
Harry and Ron turned to look at Luna, almost as if she had only just arrived again. "Apparently I do," said Luna. "It's all rather fascinating. But I'm not here for that, I'm here for Hermione and Fleur."
"Well, what about Fleur's parents? Why aren't they here?" Ron blustered.
"There isn't time," said Aimée. "And it was always agreed that I would care for Fleur in veela matters. A message has been sent, all the same."
Bill, Ron and Harry could do very little about the situation and knew they would be tripping over each other in the bedroom, so Bill slid down to the floor and sat on the landing. "We'll be here. Anything happens...?" he asked the unspoken question and Aimée nodded, and Harry and then a reluctant Ron, joined him sitting on the landing.
Luna walked into Hermione's room and found herself feeling very sad to see her friend looking so weak and lifeless, and although she wasn't familiar with muggle medical machines, she soon understood that Hermione's heart rate and other vital signs were being monitored on the equipment, which Sophie had 'borrowed', and that had been the noise she had heard when climbing the stairs.
Stefanie Apparated Fleur, and the sword, the short distance across the landing to Hermione's room and laid her next to Hermione. Sophie was watching the monitor and saw that once they were side by side, Hermione's heart rate quickened and continued to be slightly faster.
Aimée was holding the sheathed sword. "Which of us is going to do this? To be completely honest, I'm not sure I can."
"It goes against everything I believe in," said Stefanie. "I heal. I don't kill...although I know that in this case, to kill might be to heal. In any case I need to be concentrating on the healing part of this and can't do everything."
"I'm not sure I should be using anything magical or veela," said Sophie. "I can help with placement, but not the actual act."
"That leaves me, then," said Luna. The other women looked to her, guiltily, almost ashamed that they were nominating the younger woman by default. "Oh, I don't mind. I told Hermione I'd do anything. It will be odd, but life is full of odd experiences."
"She does also have veela blood, however small," said Aimée, as she handed the sword to Luna.
For a moment, Luna struggled with the balance of the sword, and slowly removed it from the scabbard; even in the lowered light of the room, she could see the blade gleaming and the marks down the fuller. "Oh, this was Joan or Arc's sword, wasn't it?"
"How did you...?" asked Aimée, a fraction of a second before Stefanie was going to ask.
"I don't know. It just looks like it could have been her sword," said Luna, dreamily, unaware of the astounded looks the other women were giving her.
"We're aiming for the heart?" Sophie asked for confirmation from Stefanie, which was given with a nod. "It would be the quickest way. And you're sure you can heal this wound physically?"
"In this case I can, providing it isn't left too long," replied the German veela. "It's risky, but it would be the ideal place to make it quick and for me to heal almost as soon as it's done."
"Yes, it would be very quick," said Sophie, nodding. She looked at her monitor and prepared some things on a table nearby. "I have everything ready that I might be able to help with. What's the exact plan of events, before we start?"
"Aimée, I need you to watch over Fleur...for the...the moment she's gone, after Luna has used the sword on Hermione. I'll be ready to heal her as soon as Fleur has...has...this is so difficult," said Stefanie, putting a hand to her head, before continuing. "I'll be ready to heal Hermione, as soon as you tell me that Fleur has gone. Sophie, be ready to help bring Hermione back and then keep her stable. Your help will be vital in leaving me with enough energy to do what I must. I'm then going to use a variation on the bonding charm to link Hermione to Fleur, to allow her to will herself into her and hopefully ensoul her. I really don't know how it's done, obviously Hermione thinks she can do it?! I'm hoping a bonding charm will help and again Sophie will help things along with bringing Fleur back. And the rest is left to hope..."
"There was nothing specific in the diaries about transferring a part of the soul," said Luna. "I think it is a moment of complete need and it happens because the will is so strong for it to happen."
Stefanie sighed. "I think we should say our goodbyes...just in case."
Aimée touched her granddaughter's cheek and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You aren't going to leave me, my beautiful one. You have so much here for you."
Luna had taken one of Hermione's hands and gently squeezed it. She didn't say anything out loud, but thought as strongly as she could. "We're going to make this work."
"Ready?" Stefanie asked everyone, and when she got nods of agreement she said, "Luna, let's start."
"Show me where to place this," said Luna, calmly, as she held the sword.
Sophie asked Luna to remove Hermione's shirt with magic - there was no need to remove her bra - and then with her fingers splayed just a little to the left of the sternum and at the top of the swell of Hermione's left breast, she showed Luna where to place the sword tip, to slip the blade between the ribs and pass into the heart. She indicated that it would be easier for Luna to be at Hermione's head-end of the bed and to push slightly downwards into the heart, for the best effect. "Don't pull the sword out until Stefanie says so," she told the younger woman. "It will act a bit like a vacuum and stop excessive bleeding and avoid extra internal damage for Stefanie to have to heal."
Luna nodded that she had understood; she carefully and precisely placed the tip of the blade on the exact place Sophie had pointed out. She took a deep breath and as she breathed out, she slowly pushed the sword into Hermione's chest.
There was a small amount of blood forming around the entry site of the sword and Hermione's body flinched. Luna tried her hardest not to shake and concentrated on breathing steadily and keeping the sword still. Sophie was looking at the monitor, as Hermione's heart rate went erratic for a few moments and then dropped, along with her blood pressure.
Fleur's body flinched. "She's going," said Aimée, concentrating very hard on her granddaughter's state and trying not to think emotionally, that she was watching and waiting for her to die.
There was a long beeping noise from the machine. "Hermione's flat-lined," said Sophie. "Her heart's stopped."
Within moments Aimée let out a shuddering breath. "Fleur's gone."
Stefanie had been alert, like a cat about to pounce on a mouse, from the very start, and now she was tapping into her reserves, to do what she had to do. She put her hands on to Hermione's chest. "Luna, slowly pull out the sword. As slowly as you can. I'll try to heal everything as you move it back out."
Luna was sweating, from having to hold the sword still, to this now very delicate part of taking the sword out of Hermione's chest. She felt the gravity of the situation more and more with each minute that passed. Gently and slowly, keeping the blade at the exact same angle, she tugged back on the hilt of the sword and felt it slide back.
The German veela had her eyes closed and was muttering, as well as doing whatever it was that veela healers could do. Sophie watched her monitor, still seeing the flat lines and the zero numbers in all boxes.
Another minute and Luna had completely removed the sword; she was expecting the lower end of the blade to be covered in blood and was thinking of using a cloth to clean it, but when she inspected it, the blade was completely clean and gleaming as before. She looked up to see that Stefanie had beckoned Sophie over, so she walked to the side to give them room. Whatever was said, Sophie then got a muggle syringe and injected something into Hermione, before using some strange hand devices, which she placed on Hermione's chest, asking everyone to stand back, which then made Hermione almost jump off the bed. Luna had never seen anything like this. Then suddenly the elongated beep of the machine began to pulse and make a rhythmic sound.
"We've got her back, she's..." said Sophie.
The English doctor, didn't get to finish her sentence as Hermione began to cough. To start with she was coughing up blood, but after a few breaths she asked in a croaky voice, "Fleur? Where?"
"Beside you," replied Stefanie. "Do you know what we need you to do?"
"Yes, yes...I think I know..," said Hermione, coughing again.
Sophie gently wiped the blood away from Hermione's mouth, as Stefanie got hold of Hermione's hand and placed it in Fleur's.
"We don't know how this is done," said Stefanie quickly. "So I'm going to almost bond you again as I try to heal Fleur. And I need you to try hard to put a piece of your soul into her when we have her back."
"I know...," Hermione said, closing her eyes. "We must work...fast."
Stefanie sat on Fleur's side of the bed and reached over to have one of her hands over the couple's clasped ones and a hand on Fleur's chest, as she cast the bonding charm and then quickly moved to healing. She was incredibly tired, but she would happily sleep for a month if it meant bringing Fleur and Hermione back in one piece. The constant beep of the machine attached to Hermione was reassuring, but it was only half of the job done. Now, without the inverted charm and the complication of the soul, Stefanie could actually feel what she needed to feel within Fleur, and felt more confident that it was all possible.
Aimée still held Fleur's free hand, as she knelt beside the bed, trying hard to sense that first hopeful sparkle that her granddaughter had returned to them. Sophie injected into Fleur the same Adrenaline dose she had given to Hermione, to help things along, but she was watching with increasing concern, as several minutes had passed since Fleur had technically died and she was thinking in the muggle world, of people being starved of oxygen, leading to brain damage. She knew this wasn't a muggle case, but she still found it hard to stand back and not be able to do more to help revive Fleur herself.
Another minute or two passed; Luna kept looking from Hermione to Fleur, and then to the other women, while keeping a fascinated glance at the monitor. She still held the sword, which she had placed back into the scabbard.
"Please my darling girl, come back to us," Aimée whispered.
Until Fleur showed any sign of life Hermione could do nothing, but she concentrated hard on how much she loved Fleur and wanted to bring her back, and how much she couldn't bear to think of her partner as dead. Come on my love. She thought. One more battle.
"Well...that was unexpected," said Luna suddenly, not meaning to disturb the room.
"What is it?" asked Sophie, who was the only one free to answer at that moment.
"It's gone," said Luna, looking around her. "The sword was here in my hand and now it's gone...it's very strange I was..."
"There!" said Aimée. "Now!"
None of them needed to ask what Aimée meant and immediately Hermione concentrated even harder. She went through memories of the times Fleur had literally taken her breath away: how she had cared for her after Bellatrix; the moment of utter joy when Fleur came back to her after their separation; the despair of her dying, of her fading image in the church and of wanting to physically put her arms around her; of feeling utterly alone without her and the pain in her chest that it caused to think on all of it. She felt a fierce, tight knot of emotion within herself. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she wanted to lift that tight knot of emotion from her chest and give it to Fleur, to show her how much she meant to her, and how badly she wanted her to stay in this world with her.
Hermione only knew that something was happening when the hand that held Fleur's was starting to get hot and the sensation of burning rope was travelling up her arm. She mentally pushed it back down, and imagined sending that burning hiss of sensation over to Fleur, with that knot of emotion, in some hope it would literally ignite her lover. Would it start her heart, or start her soul? She hoped a bit of both.
There was a flinching sensation, like a cat had jumped onto the bed, and Hermione's eyes flew open and then, to her utter joy, Fleur squeezed her hand, not once but twice and the second time it was almost painful, as Hermione's hand bones were squeezed together.
"Fleur?!" Hermione dared to say.
"Herm...Hermione," whispered a weak voice. Fleur was breathing again. "You found...me..."
After a few more moments, Stefanie finally took her hands away, and as she sat back, Sophie rushed round to her and held her upright, as her veela wife had fainted. Sophie had sensed it and had been at Stefanie's side in a flash. She held her partner's head to her chest, feeling emotional. "I think you did it, my love. How is Fleur, Aimée?"
An exhausted Aimée said, "She's back. Very weak, but her life force is steady."
"Let me get Stefanie to a chair," said Luna, as she used her wand to move an old armchair near to the bed and moved Stefanie into it.
Sophie did some checks on Fleur for herself and medically she found a person who was breathing unaided, she had a little bit of a weak pulse, but was most certainly not dead. "I think it worked. I think it really worked!"
Hermione coughed again then. Luna went to her and, with the cloth Sophie had used earlier, she wiped the dribble of blood from Hermione's chin.
"Sorry," said Hermione. "I've asked...so...so much of you. I...I don't want you wiping up...my..dr...drool too!"
Luna laughed and with bright eyes close to tears she said, "You're a genius, Hermione. To see it all at work was a privilege. I'm so glad it worked."
"You might cough a little blood for a few days," said Sophie. "Some probably leaked into your chest after the healing."
"I don't care if...if I'm coughing up fur balls, as long as Fleur's alive," Hermione said, her voice getting stronger. She was serious, but had to laugh at her own strange humour.
Sophie smiled at her. "Ah, well, if you're coughing up fur balls we'll have to call a vet in, won't we?"
"Hermione was a cat once," said Luna, which made Sophie look round at her.
Hermione gave a croaky laugh and a wave of her hand. "A long story! I can't believe you even got to hear about it, Luna?!"
"Ginny told me," said the Ravenclaw.
"Oh. It could have been worse," said Hermione, not caring about the past at that moment.
A couple of hours had passed; the men outside on the landing had been told of the progress, but that it was too early yet, not wanting them to all clamber into the room and crowd the weak Fleur and recovering Hermione. They all accepted Aimée's instructions, with reluctance.
Stefanie had recovered her strength a little, after Aimée gave her a drink with some of the tonic 'restorer', she often spoke of, in it.
"Fleur's getting stronger as the minutes pass," said Stefanie as she looked at her patients. She then gave Hermione a check. They had cleaned up the blood Hermione had spluttered and coughed up, and both women were in clean T-Shirts and comfortable. "Sophie, is that machine telling you good things?"
Sophie checked everything. "Yes. Her blood pressure is a little low but that's to be expected in a situation like this."
"If she were a muggle?"
"Yes. Or anyone else for that fact."
"And Fleur?"
"She seems a little weak to me, medically, but doing well. "
"I've been dying and dead recently, I'd settle for being a bit weaker than normal," said Fleur.
The expression changed on Stefanie's face and she held Fleur's hand firmly. "Don't you ever, EVER, ask about, or use that charm again!"
"Believe me, I don't want to use it again," said Fleur. "I didn't have many options this time, but hopefully there will never be another time."
"I hope there isn't," said Aimée. "I can't see you go through this again and if you do use it again, I'm not sure we'll have anything left to bring you back."
Fleur felt uncomfortable and wanted to change the subject; she looked around the room. "Where's the sword?"
"It sort of disappeared," said Luna. "I was holding it and keeping an eye on it and it vanished."
"Hmm...that's odd," said Aimée.
"No, it's not," said Fleur. "I was told 'When it has done the work you require, it will find its way back'."
"That means...," Aiméé began.
"It means the sword, or the spirit of Joan, knew that it was still needed and now it isn't any more," said Fleur.
"THAT was Joan of Arc's sword?" asked Hermione. "I wish I'd known sooner, I'd have loved a proper look at it."
"So you spoke to Catherine, when you went for the sword?" Aimée asked her granddaughter.
"Yes," said Fleur, already feeling that she didn't want to break a confidance and keep the secret of her identity.
"And you know who she is?"
"Joan of Arc's sister, probably," said Luna. "Her name was reportedly Catherine, I think." The whole room looked round at her in amazement and bewilderment.
"I've given up asking 'how' about this girl?!" said Stefanie, with a chuckle.
"So you all know who she is?" Fleur asked warily.
"Yes," replied her grandmother.
"And you didn't tell me?" asked Fleur.
"It's not for us to say. It's up to the person meeting her, to either guess, or be so accepted that she tells you herself," said Stefanie.
"We'd prefer that it's not spoken of outside of this room," said Aimée, as she looked at Luna.
"You'll have no trouble from me," replied Luna.
"You can trust, Luna," said Hermione. "We all have at some point in the recent weeks, months and years. She's a true friend."
Luna felt like her chest might burst, with a feeling she didn't get very often, which was pride and a feeling of total acceptance.
"You are aware that Luna met me in the church, and she'd been there before, thanks to a Great Aunt teaching it to her?" offered Hermione. "That's where I met her to arrange this...this course of action."
"Met?" said Luna. "I was summoned, really."
"Semantics," said Hermione, simply. "Anyway, that means she's of the same lineage as you three." She looked to Fleur, Aimée and Stefanie. "And I think you'd find some of the things in her ancestor's diaries absolutely fascinating. Ground-breaking in fact...that is...that is if you're okay for them to borrow them some time, Luna?"
"Of course. I've read them so many times over the years. It's only right that the veelas here should have access to them," Luna said, then paused, thinking. "Well, maybe only the people in this room, because there are a few incidents that weren't talked about again because of difficult situations. It was one of those incidents that Hermione used to help with herself and Fleur."
Luna handed the diaries over to Stefanie, who was still wearing a slightly astonished expression.
"So, Joan of Arc's sister helped you find Joan of Arc's sword?!" Hermione asked the room."Is there anything else I should know? Like, the Queen visiting while I was in a coma? Or Wales disappearing under a tidal wave?"
"No, I think you know all about it, now," said Aimee, smiling. "That's enough for a lifetime as it is."
"A lifetime," said Hermione, nearly under her breath.
She turned to look at Fleur, continuing to hold her partner's hand. The Frenchwoman sensed that Hermione was looking at her and turned to look back at her, as the younger woman leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"Oops...sorry," said Hermione. "I hope I'm not all bloody, still?"
"You're not, but I wouldn't care if you were," said Fleur.
"Have I got a scar where the sword went?" Hermione suddenly asked. "I can sort of feel a small tight area, like a bruise, or maybe someone has dropped a rock onto me."
"Shouldn't be much," said Sophie, as she came over and rolled back Hermione's T-Shirt up to her neck, to expose the top part of her chest. "Oh, there seems to be a little bit of a scar."
Fleur looked and ran a finger gently over the healed scar, which was a line of around two inches in length at the top of the swell of Hermione's left breast. "Maybe we can heal that more later?"
Hermione got hold of Fleur's hand and pressed it to her chest. "No. I got that for you. And not only was it a big 'bloody-hell' moment, because it was Joan of Arc's sword, but I'll always think of when I lost you and when I got you back. I'll gladly wear it. Besides it's not like many people are going to see it. I've never been into plunging necklines and flashing cleavage!"
"You died for me..," said Fleur, but she wasn't allowed to feel overwhelmed by it for long.
"Well, technically, you died for me," said Hermione. "Sort of. You were actually killing me, so I had to kill myself, to kill you, to live, then bring you back."
Everyone in the room just laughed; the kind of nervous, relief-laden laugh that people do when they have been through hell and know they are out on the other side of it.
"Like I was saying," Aimée said. "You've both had a lifetime of experiences these past few days and years."
"A lifetime," said Hermione again. "Are the boys still around?"
"On the landing," said Sophie."Like a bunch of expectant fathers!"
"I'd like to see them," said Hermione.
"If you're sure?" asked Aimée.
Hermione looked to Fleur, smiled at her and then nodded. "I don't look too bloody or anything, do I?"
"No, we cleaned you up and changed your shirt earlier," said Stefanie.
A minute or two later, Bill, Harry and Ron tentatively walked into the room, and then wore an expression of relief to see both Hermione and Fleur sitting up and awake. Both looked exhausted and pale, but they were alive.
"It worked? Properly?" asked Harry, looking at the older women's faces to try and detect any hint of something being hidden from them.
"Yes, it worked," answered Hermione.
Bill sat on a chair beside the bed, next to Fleur, and held her hand. "You gave us all a right scare."
"I know, but I happen to have a brilliant partner in crime with Hermione and a brilliant friend in Luna," said Fleur. "Not to mention wonderful people like my Grandma, Stefanie and Sophie. We wouldn't be here without them all."
Not caring how it looked, Bill had tears in his eyes. He tried to compose himself, failed and had to wipe the tears away, which then made him let his guard down. He couldn't stop himself from saying: "If you had to love anyone, other than me, I'm so glad it's Hermione."
"What?" said Ron. "What did you just say, Bill?"
"Shit! Sorry!" said Bill with panic written across his face.
Hermione shook her head, then squeezed Fleur's hand, nodded and said, "It's actually why I called you all in here, now. I can't leave it a moment longer. I no longer want to hide, and it's up to each of you as to how you take it, but I want you to know that I love Fleur. We've been together for a while."
"How...?" Ron said, trying to form a sentence and failing.
"I'm sorry Ron, I never meant to hurt you, or make you think anything otherwise. I love Fleur. I probably always have," Hermione said, with a breathy laugh, thinking of all the hate she used to have for her lover and knowing that some of it could have been the opposite. "When we were bonded, it's more than an Unbreakable Vow type of thing, it's what veelas do when they find their true love."
"I just don't...GET IT!?" Ron said in a loud voice. He looked to his brother. "And you're FINE with this?!"
"Yes."
"She's...she's your bloody wife!?"
"Ron, my marriage to Fleur had issues, and I always knew about Hermione. I still love Fleur but I also accept Hermione," said Bill, flatly. "Anything beyond those facts is nobody else's business. Nobody else's! You got that?"
Ron was silent. His cheeks were flushed, but it was hard for Hermione to know if it was from anger or embarrassment. Then he looked at Hermione. "All this time and you lied to me. Lied to us all."
"I didn't lie," said Hermione. "I didn't say anything about it, that's all. And think about it: doing what we were - finding horcruxes, riding dragons, fighting in a battle - at what point would it have been good for me to turn to you and say: 'By the way I'm in love with Fleur.'? In the Room of Requirement, as the fiendfyre was trying to fry us? Maybe when we were tied to those chairs, while Rodolphus was talking to us and decided to have a little practice on me with the Cruciatus curse? Or maybe just before I went into a coma?"
Ron stayed silent.
"There was never a good time to tell you. There was always something happening and then when Fleur's health depended on me, I had no time to consider putting an advert in the Daily Prophet announcing the state of my love life. And let's face it, there's never a good time to say this, and for me I was a bit scared of telling you all."
"We can't choose whom we love," said Harry.
"What would you know?" asked Ron, turning to his friend with an incredulous look.
"Snape. Loving my Mum all those years, even after her death, having watched her with a man he loathed: my Dad," explained Harry. "I'm not saying Snape wasn't a git, but he was a brave and loyal git, and what he showed me in the pensieve taught me something about love."
"Our two friends were dead a couple of hours ago," said Luna solemnly. "Really dead, and now they're not. We can't always be where we want to be, or with the people we want to be with. If I could have just one more day with my Mother I'd take it, but I can't and I have to face that every day. But I'm glad I'm alive, and I'm glad Fleur, Hermione and Harry are alive and I'm glad you're alive and unharmed too, Ron."
"I'm...of course I'm glad Hermione and Fleur are alive," said Ron, wearing a confused expression, now. "I...I...don't know. I think I'm going to go home."
"I think that's a good idea," said Bill, and quickly added. "I'm not ribbing you, mate. I do honestly think you need some time to yourself away from it all."
"I would always have been at your side," Ron said to Hermione.
"I hope you will be in the future. Perhaps not in the way you hoped, but I do care about you, Ron," said Hermione.
Ron took a last look at Hermione, seeing her hand clasping Fleur's and how their fingers were interlinked, which gave him a feeling like his stomach dropping to the ground. He nodded to them and left, going back to the Burrow.
"I'd better go back with him," said Harry. "I'm glad things worked. After everything, we couldn't lose you, Hermione."
"You're okay, Harry?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Harry.
"I might not be coming back to England for a while," said Hermione. "But I'll try to write and maybe you can come and visit?"
"Take all the time you need, Hermione. You deserve a rest. You and Fleur."
Hermione lifted her hand and beckoned Harry back to her, and she looked like she wanted to hug him, so he leaned down and hugged her, reassured by her very alive appearance.
"Now, don't be an idiot," she whispered.
"I'm fine with you and Fleur, I said..." he started to say and pull back, but she kept him close.
"...make sure you ask Ginny out again," Hermione finished, and let him go this time.
Harry stood back, wearing the hint of a blush and a quizzical expression. "Not after what I've put her through."
"Trust me 'Mr. I-know-something-about-love Potter'," said Hermione. Harry looked a little lost, which made Hermione laugh. "You've had long enough since Hogwarts for things to have settled down. Do it! Well...not actually 'it', not yet, anyway, but ask her!" He still didn't look convinced. "I'm not dying any more, but my dying wish is that you ask her out again!"
"Err...well...I'll see how things are at the Burrow," said Harry, but he didn't look quite so befuddled as he was moments before, and to Hermione she could see he was already thinking it through. "I'll see you again soon. Keep well, both of you," he said as he left the room.
"I want to stay," said Bill. "But I feel I should leave you in peace for a while. You've been through a lot. Keep in contact though, yeah?"
It was Fleur's turn to beckon Bill closer to her, and she put her arms around him as he leaned down to hug her. As he did so, he looked over Fleur's shoulder to Hermione and mouthed: "Thank you." The younger woman smiled and nodded.
"Stay out of trouble, Bill," said Fleur.
"I'll try to. I've got a job at the Ministry if I want it, in Magical Law Enforcement. I like the idea of rounding up scum like Lestrange, or at the least trying to stop another Voldemort from rising."
"Oh, that's wonderful news!" said Fleur. "What...what happened to him, by the way?"
"He's in a secure cell, at the newly repaired and newly guarded, Azkaban," Bill replied. "He's serving life for all the shit he did before, so they'll add escape and kidnap to it, as well as a few other things during his time outside, including what he did to Hermione. The dementors are gone and they have much more reliable guards there now."
"I suppose Ron will say something to your parents?" said Fleur. "It had to happen sometime."
"Let me deal with that," said Bill. "I've thought it might be time to tell them the truth soon, anyway. This gives me a good opportunity. As long as you two are okay with that?"
Both women looked at each other and then nodded. "Yes, it's fine," said Fleur. "So much has happened that the truth might as well see the light of day."
"Take care, both of you," Bill said, as he gave one of his grins and left the room.
A little while later Luna also left, but Fleur and Hermione told her to come back in a day or two and the older women in the room definitely wanted her back to discuss those diaries. Luna was very happy to accept the invitation, once she had gone back and explained where she had been to her father.
"Is that lovely cottage free for us to stay there?" Fleur asked. The room was left to Fleur, Hermione, Aimée, Stefanie and Sophie, now.
"Good grief! You're not horny already, are you?" said Stefanie.
Fleur blushed then laughed. "No." She couldn't stop laughing, with Hermione laughing too, having to hold her slightly tender chest to cope with the laughs. "We loved it there before. I thought it would be a nice relaxing place to stay."
"It's free," said Aimée. "But we'll want you around here another day or two, to be on the safe side."
"I don't mind where I am, right now," said Hermione, stifling a yawn. "I'm so damn tired."
"Rest," said Stefanie. "Both of you rest. Unless you'd like us to move you back to your own room, Fleur?"
"You can try it, but you'll fail!" said Fleur, grinning. She was also feeling tired and lay back against the pillows.
"Is there any way to turn the beeps off on that bloody machine?" asked Hermione, who Sophie had insisted was still hooked up to it.
The doctor fiddled with a couple of buttons and the beeping disappeared. "I was about ready to hex that thing!" said Fleur.
"It helped us to help you both," said Aimée, but seeing both younger women looking very tired, she then helped to make sure they were settled, covered them with a blanket and left them to sleep.
XXXXXXXXXX
A few hours later, after some dinner had been brought to Hermione and Fleur and they had both been checked over yet again by Stefanie and Sophie, they had a visit from Fleur's mother and father and her sister Gabrielle too. Hermione was nervous to meet Monsieur Delacour, whom she had only seen fleetingly at the Burrow for the wedding, but he couldn't have been nicer, and as he hugged her in greeting he kept saying: "Thank you. Thank you for saving our Fleur." over and over again in French and in English. When he finally let her go, she saw that he had tears down his face, which he unashamedly wiped away with a blue silk handkerchief.
In some ways the manner of their meeting had made it less problematic for Hermione. She wasn't sure what the response would have been had they both died - not that she would have been around to see the, undoubtedly, angry reaction - or had Fleur stayed dead and herself had survived. She didn't want to think on it much and thankfully it wasn't something she was going to have to experience.
Fleur's father said that, although he knew that Hermione and Fleur were already bonded, that he gave them his blessing completely. He said he had always felt a little sorry for Bill, but he knew that the heart often won through in the end and could not be ignored completely. Hermione also got another invite to visit the Delacour home in the near future.
The visit hadn't been all that long, but it had tired Fleur quickly and her mother could see this and, satisfied that everything was as it should be, bid them farewell. With another round of hugs from Fleur's parents and sister, Hermione's body really began to ache, feeling that every hug she was receiving, was like being used as a punch bag.
Aimée brought them some hot chocolate later, and they were left for the night. As they settled down, Hermione snuggled up to Fleur as they had always done, with both women enjoying the closeness. They shared the briefest, but tenderest, of kisses.
"How did you know what to do?" Fleur asked, before she tried to sleep.
"I didn't," said Hermione. "I heard Ron waffling on in here to me, after you had left the church and he said something about Luna and it was like everything sort of came to me then. I remembered her talking about those diaries at Shell Cottage and I wondered if they might help."
"It's amazing."
"I honestly don't know how I summoned Luna, other than deep will power and desperation," admitted Hermione. "I had no idea if someone could visit that place, in that plain, in that way, but we were so lucky that Luna has a trickle of veela blood in her. I was hoping she might somehow find her way to the house, I never expected her to appear in the church."
"I wasn't sure about her in the beginning," said Fleur. "But I got to know her quite well at Shell Cottage and I admired her, and trusted her. She never seemed to feel unsettled by Griphook at all, which made her the only one in the house who could stand to be in his company. I hated the thought of anyone making fun of her."
"She's proved herself again and again," said Hermione. "I suppose I was lucky that I thought about her at that moment, instead of baked beans on toast, because that would have got us nowhere!"
Fleur laughed, then said, thoughtfully, "Did you experience anything else? While you...we...were gone? You know, dead?"
"I don't remember anything," said Hermione. "I don't think I was gone long from how they spoke. How about you?"
"I'm not sure," said Fleur. "I'm not sure if it was when I was dead or not. It was like I was sitting in the church, or somewhere like it, but the light was blindingly bright everywhere. It hurt my eyes, but I didn't see anything else. Or didn't have the chance to see anything else."
"It might be that whatever happens to you in that...instance, means you go there first," suggested Hermione. "Only, in a slightly different version of it."
"Sounds very possible," said Fleur. "I suppose you don't have any veela soul in you any more?"
"I..." Hermione paused, thinking, and actually felt a little sad. "I suppose I don't, now."
"Do you think you could try going to the church and find out if you can, or can't, go there any more?" asked Fleur. "I'm curious."
Hermione closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself in that field and seeing the church. She was very negative about it and thought it would be lost to her now, and that she might only get the sunshine and fields experience. However, she gave a little huffy laugh when she saw the building, walked up to it and went inside.
"It seems I still have my member's card," said Hermione, amused, though it started to make her think more.
"I'm glad. I hope we'll never be parted like recent times, but I like to think you can see what I can," said Fleur.
"I accept that there will be things I won't understand, or be able to experience, because I'm muggle-born and you have veela blood," said Hermione. "Sophie told me something about it and how it was for her, and is, with Stefanie, only she's completely muggle with no magical blood."
"You can still feel me through the bond?" queried Fleur.
"Yes," said Hermione. "And probably because you have a piece of my soul inside you now. I don't think it will give you anything special, like your soul gave to me."
Fleur held Hermione to her more closely. "It has given me everything. Another chance to be with you. To me that is very special."
"I wonder if one of us sharing a piece of soul, gives me access to the church, because a part of me is a part of you? Or whether the sword, with probable veela heritage, is responsible?"
"I don't know," replied Fleur, sleepily. "I hope it won't keep you awake wondering?"
"No," said Hermione, then she laughed. "At this moment in time I'm so tired that my brain is a bit mushy and more likely to worry about other things, like: do penguins have knees?"
The last comment had Fleur laughing, and her whole body shook with her laughter. It made them both feel so alive. Hermione kissed Fleur again, then they settled for the night, which they slept through with no problems.
The following day, they were visited by Fleur's mother, by herself, and Hermione learned once again what a truly lovely woman she was. She didn't suffer fools gladly, which gave her that imposing aura, but underneath she was a loving and caring mother. Apolline felt able to ask more without her husband there and, although the answers made her well up with tears, she wanted to know everything. Apoline also wanted to meet Luna properly to thank her personally.
That day and the day after, Fleur and Hermione slept a lot as they recovered. Hermione occasionally had to cough and still brought up a bit of blood and phlegm, but Sophie told her she might do that for a few days as her lungs sorted themselves out.
The day after that, Stefanie and Sophie were happy with their patients and, to the younger women's joy, they were allowed to go to the cottage, on only the third evening after their experience with death. There was plenty of talk about getting in contact, if they felt odd or ill, and making sure they visited Aimée regularly, which wasn't a problem for them. On entering through the door of the little cottage, they immediately felt relaxed and at home.
"It's good to be back here," said Fleur, taking in a lungful of air, and savouring the homely smell of the place.
"It wasn't that long ago, but it feels like weeks since we were here," said Hermione.
They had a look around the rooms again, and saw a well-stocked kitchen, and everything looking as welcoming and comfortable as it had the first time they had stayed there.
Both women still had a lot of fatigue, but as they got ready for bed and got under the sheet and blanket, Fleur moved over Hermione and looked down at her, before lowering her head and kissing her. Fleur's gentle kiss soon became more needy and she rubbed a hand up and down Hermione's side, feeling the curve of her breast and hip, moving to kiss her neck, before going back to kiss her on the lips, allowing their tongues to meet.
Hermione felt like someone had flicked a switch on within her and it was a switch that ignited her passion. She had never wanted Fleur as much as she did then. To hold her, to kiss her, to feel her, to inhale her scent, to love her, to have her inside her and to be inside Fleur. She moaned into another deep kiss, as Fleur moved a hand between her legs and rubbed and squeezed her mound firmly, through her underwear, and then Fleur broke the kiss as she pushed up Hermione's top, gently kissing the scar on her chest before taking a nipple into her mouth..
Not bothering to use magic to begin with, Hermione wriggled and began to pull off her briefs, flinging them off in nearly one movement, and reached for Fleur's hand, guiding it back to her centre. She did use magic to rid herself of the top she was wearing and Fleur used magic to discard her own sleepwear. Hermione was aching for Fleur.
"Please," Hermione whispered in Fleur's ear, as the blonde woman kissed her neck. "Please, just...fuck me. I need you, so badly."
To hear Hermione talk like that, momentarily made Fleur pause, but it turned her on and she thrust her fingers into Hermione, loving how her hips came up off the bed to meet her, as she whined and moaned breathlessly. The brunette rolled them both slightly and put her hand between Fleur's legs, desperate to pleasure her lover too. She rubbed and thrust at Fleur's centre and could feel Fleur begin to reach the edge. As they both felt each other close to letting go, it was enough to send them both over into a strong climax, calling out the other's name.
Hermione was panting, her body tingling, but she had to grab her chest which ached and pulled a little, around the area where she had been so recently impaled on a sword. It made her smile, thinking of Sophie and Stefanie probably warning them off energetic sex, if they knew it made her chest ache.
"Hermione?" Fleur asked, as she began to breathe easier, and saw Hermione's discomfort.
"Just a little ache," said Hermione.
"I think you're getting a similar feeling to me," said Fleur. "It's not as bad as it was before, but I do still feel the aches. Another thing to share, I guess?"
The brunette smiled broadly and rolled on top of Fleur. "I'm sorry I spoke a bit...weirdly. I...I...err... needed you. Got a bit...carried away."
"Sorry?" said Fleur, with a quirk of a smile. "It turned me on, more than you can know."
The younger woman gave a sheepish grin and kissed Fleur, and moved on to her cheek and jaw and then to her neck, before giving some attention to Fleur's breasts. The blonde woman drew Hermione up to kiss her, rolling them again to kiss at Hermione's neck, and as she reached an ear, sucking on the lobe, she whispered: "You can talk dirty to me whenever you want to."
The brunette gave a breathy, slightly embarrassed laugh.
"Words are powerful," said Fleur, going back to the ear lobe. "When you said you wanted me to fuck you, my pussy clenched and I got so wet for you." Hermione gave a gasp. "See? Words."
Inevitably they made love again, a little less frantically. After which, they were both exhausted, but so happy to be connected again. As they held each other, Fleur admitted a worry she had.
"I did wonder if...if not having my soul inside you, would somehow alter how you felt," the Frenchwoman said. "That you might not feel the same. About me. I know it wasn't working like an enchantment, but it made me wonder if everything would change you. Change your feelings. Maybe make you think you'd made a rash mistake."
"No, not at all," said Hermione. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it, briefly, in the few moments after I'd spoken with Luna in the church, but I never felt different at any stage. And now more than ever, I know it's real."
Two tired, sated and utterly happy women, found sleep easily that night.
A/N: The story doesn't end yet...four more chapters to go. :)