The quarter veela received the highest score from the judges just like Harry. The boy saved both Ron and Krum's treasure, a Hufflepuff girl that he had taken to the ball. The seeker was attacked earlier and ended up being unable to rescue her. Harry was rewarded for his altruism and Fleur for being both the first to rescue and not over the time limit. The blonde was in front of the other competitors now. But that didn't take the bitter taste of victory out of her mouth.
For the first time in her life, people were avoiding Fleur. Not that she cared, it was even refreshing to be ignored instead of constantly irritated by people. After the second task, everyone witnessed her transformation, and if there was one thing that even the Slytherin could understand, it was you don't bother an angry veela. At all, like never.
Even more after the suspicious article in the Daily Prophet that described the champion as a ferocious beast that needed to be contained. Needless to say, Fleur's correspondence was being monitored after that. This made her most irritated and wanting to curse Rita Skeeter for the rest of the woman's life because now her grandmother's letter was taking too long to arrive.
She needed that answer and quick. Because despite being a quarter veela and having great participation in this part of the folk culture there was a lot that the girl didn't know, especially given the fact that she was primarily socialized in the witch community. The struggles of having more than one inheritance are real.
Not understanding what had happened to her made the blonde nervous. It was almost like Fleur had a vague idea of what was going on but her mind blocked the response from appearing. It wasn't just her own questions that the blonde had to answer. As patient and understanding as her girlfriend was, she knew that Hermione had them too. She was waiting for Fleur.
"You know to someone who is in the first place in the tournament you look more emotionally constipated every day." Diana did not soften her words even after receiving a murderous look in response.
"This wait is just making me anxious."
"So it's great that I came here to inform you that Madame Maxime just finished checking your mail and has a safety package with your name on it waiting in the carriage."
"Why wasn't that the first thing you said to me?" Fleur immediately shoved her books into her bag and ran out of the Great hall towards the carriage.
"And miss the opportunity to make fun of you? Never." Diana shouted at the girl's back.
Arriving at the Beauxbatons carriage Fleur went straight to her room. Waiting at the girl's desk was a small rectangular package with a letter addressed to her. The message from her grandmother was short and puzzled.
"If you can read this book, send me a patronum after your conversation." - With love, Granny
Granny, why are you always like this? What kind of encrypted message was that? Well, she hoped at least this book would provide better answers.
Unwrapping the package found a very thin, worn book. Fleur could feel the ancient magic that radiated from it with a simple brush of her fingertips.
Veelas and souls bond; an explanatory guide by Zorah G. Argh
Reading the title she took a long breath and dives deep into the book pages.
Hermione received a message from her girlfriend per her book asking to meet in the castle's garden.
The girl was worried, not out of fear as the other students now seemed to have acquired. She didn't know how to explain it but Fleur's transformation did not cause her any discomfort.
On the contrary.
When the brunette looked into those silver eyes it was like finally finding the piece of herself she was desperately searching for. Like the world made sense again. She knew. Simply just knew that nothing wrong would happen while Fleur was there. So no dating a creature was not the thing worrying Hermione as the Daily Prophet was insisting on pointing out.
What worried her was the emotional turmoil her lover was in. Hermione never saw the blonde so nervous before, so scared of herself. While waiting for Fleur's grandmother's letter tried to help in the way she knew best. By researching. Unfortunately, the library had failed to help in the search for a satisfactory explanation.
Nothing. Simply no book had the answer or a knowledge indication of what had happened at the lake. It was frustrating not to be able to provide the comfort that Fleur needed. Not that it stopped her from trying, Hermione will always try for her loved ones.
But now was not the time to hide in the library the veela needed to talk to her.
The garden, unlike the greenhouse and the forest, was a very pleasant part of the castle. It was there that Fleur and Hermione spent part of the night, surrounded by moonlight, looking at the stars after the dance. It was a place of happy memories, so it was the best place chosen for their conversation.
"Hey Fleur." a hesitant voice came from Hermione's mouth.
Not wanting to imply that the conversation would be a bad thing Fleur crossed the space between the two took Hermione's cheeks in her hands and give the girl a fierce open mouth kiss. It took less than a second for the younger witch to relax and melt into her girlfriend's sweet lips. The heat that radiated from their joined bodies was like a protective aura banishing any thought of doubt that might exist. She felt her hands drawing Fleur vests bringing their bodies closer and closer. They could spend hours connected like that, but they had to talk. Drawing circles on Hermione's back the blonde broke the kiss.
"I hope this helps to understand that this will not be a bad conversation mon Coeur." the blonde whispered breathlessly in Hermione's ear.
Still disoriented from the kiss the other girl just nodded.
"Came with me, let's sit on the bench." With their joined hands they sat on the bench next to each other.
"My grandmother reply." looking into the brown eyes she loved continued "She sends me a book, that explained what happened to me at the lake."
"What the book said?" Hermione gave the girl's hand an encouraging squeeze.
Taking a deep breath Fleur begins her explanation.
"The book is called veelas and souls bond, it is a magical antiquity within the veela community and is always passed on whenever someone in the family encounters.. their mate." Fleur was direct to the point, she wouldn't hide anything, not after promising honesty "We are mates, Hermione our souls resonated together that day we are now bonded to each other." She looked directly into the girl's brown eyes while saying this.
Ok, that was a lot of information in the same sentence and left more questions to be asked.
"We are mates, how that even works?" Her tone was curious and even hopeful.
"Veelas has a peculiar ability, the thrall is not just a defense mechanism like I thought." she laughed "Apparently it serves to assist in the search for a mate too. Souls sing you know? Like birds they sing and wait to be heard by their peers, my thrall allows me to hear the song much more intensely than an ordinary human." She needed Hermione to understand the seriousness of what she was talking about "It's not like we're destined for each other by a cosmic force. That's not how love works, it's a choice. In the lake, your soul called for me and my soul answered because I chose you too." We chose each other, our souls connected because they chose to love each other together.
"That's why you turned?"
"Yes, anger can make me gain some veela traits but a complete transformation for someone with diluted blood like me is only possible when you answer the call of your mate." her eyes were starting to fill with water, a traitor tear trickled down Fleur's cheek.
"Hey, hey Fleur love why are you crying?" Hermione held her cheek and wiped the tear away with her thumb.
"I'm happy, I'm just really happy it's you my soul chose. I never felt this way in my life about anyone, I love you so much Hermione, but I'm also afraid this be too much in such a short time of our relationship."
Even if they were connected, the mind could still reject the idea of forming a bond. That was simply terrifying.
"It's not too much." The brunette stared at her firmly ensuring that was true "I feel it too, at the lake I looked at you and I just felt deep down that I had found my other part. We can talk about the logistics of this later Because yes Fleur I want to go further in this relationship with you, your soul answered my call, I called you not any other soul. I called you because that's where my heart wants to be and…" Hermione was cut off by a pair of lips that took her breath away.
I want you.
I'm here, I will never leave your side.