A/N This is my first ever published fanfiction. While this will be a mostly Fleur/Hermione centered fic, there will be several other POV's. The storyline will stay as close to canon as possible starting from the Goblet of Fire. This will be a multi-chapter fic, I have already planned out most of the story, all I need to do is write.
A big shoutout to Peeves' Best Friend, who has been the most amazing Beta you can possibly imagine, and has helped me through way more than I care to admit. I would also like to thank xtonguetied, who always pushes me to write more.
DISCLAIMER: Credit where credit is due: JK Rowling owns the entire Potterverse.
FLEUR DE LA MER
CHAPTER ONE: The Triwizard Tournament
FLEUR (Beauxbatons Castle, August 31st)
Fleur Delacour was staring out of one of Beauxbatons' windows right into the pouring rain. She was standing alone in the dimly lit Great Hall of the magical institution. Tall for a seventeen-year-old, with her silvery blond hair flowing freely beside her face effectively hiding her delicate features, she was still wearing the muggle clothing she preferred over her wizarding robes. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the person walking up next to her.
"Fleur," the older woman said, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.
"Maman? I thought you had left already." Fleur said, glancing sideways at her mother.
"Not without saying goodbye to my little girl." the woman smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug, letting go once she had pushed a string of blond hair behind Fleur's ear. "So, au revoir ma belle, and take care."
Apolline was already halfway towards the doors when Fleur managed to call after her.
"Wait! That's it?"
"What do you mean 'that's it'? Isn't this how we always say goodbye?" The woman answered, raising her eyebrow slightly, and even though Fleur couldn't see that in the shadows, she recognized her mother's tone of voice.
"You were in Madame's office for so long, I thought..." Fleur hesitated. "I thought you might have something to say, about the tournament."
Apolline sighed deeply "It is your wish to compete Fleur, not mine, but your father and I support you. You'll do just fine, I have no doubt in your abilities."
"I don't want to do fine," Fleur said calmly, "I want to do great. I want to be great."
"I already know that you are great Fleur, I just think now is not the time to go off adventuring." The older Veela shook her head and looked rather displeased with her daughter.
"Maman..." Fleur started.
"Bon, we've discussed this multiple times already, doing so again now won't make a difference anymore. Do your best, ma fille." Apolline said before turning around, the sound of her heels on the marble following her until she had long since disappeared into the shadows of the castle.
Fleur was left alone, standing in the cold and empty Great Hall. Her shoulders sank a little when she realized her mother was leaving the school. They had arrived a day earlier than the rest of the students, for her mother wished to speak with the headmistress in private. Fleur had paled at the idea, seeing as her mother was known to be quite persistent and had shown her disapproval for Fleur's wish to participate in the Tournament during most of the summer. So naturally, Fleur had been worried that at the end of that meeting, she was no longer going to Hogwarts. She had begged her father to let her go to the school alone, to convince her mother to leave it all be, but he had just looked at her with understanding and pitying eyes.
Her parents, not agreeing with the whole Tournament idea, had tried to convince her to stay in France, but Fleur desperately wanted glory, and being of age, she had signed the consent papers long before she had informed her parents of the decision. Which, in retrospect, had not been such a good idea.
"Bah, I hate this rain." She bitterly said out loud, and yet in two months she'd be leaving for a country famous for its horrible weather. Glancing one last time at the rain, she turned around and left the hall in favour of the far more comfortable common room. Although it wasn't particularly cold this time of year in the south of France, the stormy weather up in the Pyrenee mountains made her shiver in her thin clothing.
Not for the first time Fleur found herself wishing she'd taken one of her sweaters out of her trunk, but stubborn as she was, she pushed the idea to the back of her head. Three flights of stairs later, she dropped into a comfortable leather couch near the fireplace the house elves had lit in preparation for the nearing arrival of the school's students. It took a long time to warm up the entire castle, even in summertime. As she had nothing to do, Fleur took out her advanced charms' book, reading ahead on some of the spells she would learn during the year. Honestly, she did already know most of them. She was known as a good student among her peers, actually, the best. Fleur Delacour was the number one student in her year and she had worked hard to beat every single one of the non-believers who thought she'd receive favoritism because of her heritage. It was that heritage that made her stand alone among all her friends. It was also that heritage that made her who she was.
The quarter-Veela sighed, her attention was everywhere but with charms.
"Mon Dieu! Can you believe how boring this chateau is when empty?!" Her little sister complained loudly while dropping in the armchair next to Fleur's.
"Oui." Fleur smirked, laughing at her sister.
Gabrielle was one of those people who were at their happiest surrounded by people, she was completely different from her sister in that way, who regularly preferred it to spend some time alone, instead of in the company of drooling people who agreed with everything she said.
"Why do you have to leave Fleur?" Gabrielle sighed desperately. "With you spending time on that blasted island, you'll miss out on all the fun here!"
Fleur frowned, closing her book
"Fun? You call this place fun? It's boring ma petite, that's what it is." Fleur said sternly to her sister.
"How can Beauxbatons be boring?! You are the most popular girl in school! Do you know how exhausting it is to be the sister of the amazing Fleur Delacour?" Gabrielle rolled her eyes mockingly.
"Well, then you should be glad I'm leaving, n'est-ce pas?" Fleur flashed a teasing smile at her sister, showing her perfect teeth and reaching over to engulf the younger girl in a big hug. Gabrielle crawled desperately trying to get out of the hug, but being five years younger, she didn't stand a chance and just gave up after awhile.
Her arms hanging awkwardly beside her body, she muttered:
"Fleur, are you going to let me go yet?"
"Non."
"Fleur!" Gabrielle complained loudly.
"Fine, but don't start sending me letters that you miss my hugs when I'm in England." Fleur grinned, and let go.
Gabrielle glared at her sister, smoothing the wrinkles out of her brand new blue robes, muttering curses under her breath. After a while she noticed Fleur staring intensely at her.
"What?" She asked.
"Why are you already wearing your robes?" Fleur frowned. "School hasn't officially started yet, you know."
"Oui je sais." Gabrielle looked slightly embarrassed. "It just felt wrong wandering around in my normal clothes. As if Madame Maxime would appear any minute around the next corner and give me detention for not being in uniform…"
Her sister started laughing loudly, shattering the quietness of the castle and Gabrielle grinned uncomfortably too. Fleur knew her sister well enough that she would probably be in detention somewhere during the first week. Gabrielle had a knack for getting in trouble, and didn't have Fleur's eloquence or patience to talk her way out of it.
"As if detention would have any effect on you." Fleur smiled, and she knew she would miss her sister terribly, but the excited butterflies in her stomach remained. They had not left her since she made her decision to participate. Yes, this would be the year of Fleur Delacour, what other option could there be? She knew her dreams would come true.
HERMIONE (Platform 9 3/4, September 1st, 11.00 am)
The Hogwarts Express creaked, huffing and puffing, it slowly put itself into motion. Suddenly the platform was nothing but white steam, leaving Hermione Granger barely able to see the Weasley's while she waved them goodbye.
"I don't know why you even bother." The boy with the red hair said beside her. "It's not like they can see you."
"Yes, Ronald, but it's the gesture that counts. Your family let me stay over for a long time this summer, in case you forgot." Hermione said, ignoring his tone.
"How could I? I was there now, wasn't I." Ron Weasley said grumpily. "Now do any of you know what the bloody hell is happening at Hogwarts this year?"
"Err - no." Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, shook his head. "We know as much as you, remember?"
"Which is nothing," Ron complained loudly. "You know, Bagman wanted to tell us, at the World Cup, remember that? But my own mother won't say a word."
"They probably have a good reason for not telling us." Hermione said, while taking the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, out of her rucksack. "If something is happening at Hogwarts we are bound to find out anyways. I mean, we'll be there in less than a day."
"If this year is going to be at all like the last three, it'll probably find me out before anything else." Harry said jokingly, causing Ron to laugh.
"I don't think you should joke about your ability to always get in trouble, Harry." Hermione looked up disapprovingly from her spell book. She didn't believe how unlucky her friend was. First the philosopher's stone, second a gigantic murderous snake and third there had been the soulless, creepy looking Dementors next to the tiny, even creepier and also murderous rat. A year without murderous anything would be fun, Hermione thought. An easy, quiet year was all she wanted.
"Oh blimey Hermione, can't you take a joke!?" Ron laughed, "And what are you reading that book for already? We're not even at Hogwarts yet!"
She glared at the redhead, making his smile shrink a little and she was glad to see that her glares hadn't lost any effect over the summer.
"You know I like to finish my books before lessons start, Ronald, and I still have to start on the final chapter so leave me alone so I can get it done." Delicately she turned a page, careful not to crumple the parchment while it still had that new book smell.
Harry intervened right before Ron was about to loudly protest against Hermione's tone. He placed his hand upon his friend's shoulder and grinned.
"If I were half as dedicated to Quidditch as Hermione is to her studies I could probably beat Krum by now."
"No way mate!" Ron smiled instantly. At the mentioning of Krum's name, he completely forgot his issue with Hermione.
"No one can beat Krum! He's the best bloody seeker in the world! Did you know he still goes to school? Oh man.. If only he went to Hogwarts.."
Behind her book, Hermione smiled fondly at her friends arguing over Quidditch. Some things never change, she guessed as she read up on the Summoning Charm. Realizing happily that she was finally allowed to use magic again, she quickly took out her wand and made the Summoning movement beside her body, softly whispering: 'Accio Krum puppet.'
To Ron's surprise, the puppet he was using to reenact the Wronski Feint flew out of his hands right into the hands of Hermione. The stunned look on his face was enough cause for both Harry and Hermione to start laughing uncontrollably at their friend.
"Ron! You should see your face!" Harry's smile widened broadly, punching his friend in the shoulder.
Hermione threw the puppet back to Ron while he, still stunned, asked:
"How did you do that 'Mione?"
"Summoning Charm" She smiled, happy that it worked, but not really surprised. She was Hermione Granger after all.
"Blimey, how is it that you are able to do that without practice?" He looked at her with admiring eyes.
Hermione smiled at the compliment from the redhead. She wouldn't admit it, but it filled her with pride. "It's called studying Ronald, you should try it sometime." She teased him.
"Yes Weasley, you should try studying, maybe then you wouldn't be such a useless wizard."
She hadn't heard the door of the compartment slide open, yet when Hermione looked over towards the source of the new voice, she came face to face with a slyly grinning Draco Malfoy. He was already in his school robes, and he'd obviously come looking for a fight. His enormous cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, were standing next to him, desperately trying to look imposing to the trio in the compartment. Naturally their scruffy looking robes didn't really help but their size did, and they stared down menacingly at the trio.
"Go away Malfoy." Harry simply said, not interested in an argument.
"I don't feel like it yet, Potter. Maybe in a minute." Malfoy grinned slyly
"You're not going to enter, are you Weasley? You need to be a half decent wizard for that."
"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione, while glaring at Ron to keep calm, his ears already slightly red.
"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you? Well we don't need to worry about you, Granger, being the sensible one of this little.. 'group'.."
"Enter what?" Harry snapped at him. "Either explain it to us or get lost Malfoy."
A mocking smile spread across Malfoy's pale face and having seen that smile a million times before, Hermione knew an insult was coming next.
"Oh, you don't know, do you?" He sneered while looking at Ron. "I can't believe it, you have a brother and a father in the Ministry but yet you don't know. Well I can't say I'm surprised, actually. They might be a little too low-level for that information. But hey, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."
Malfoy sighed, turning to Harry.
"Do me a favor, Potter, and enter. I've been waiting for a chance to get rid of you."
Laughing he left the door opening and disappeared into the crowds of the train, Crabbe and Goyle following him a few seconds later, obviously confused by the rather rapid departure of their glorious leader, Draco Malfoy.
The second they were out of sight, a frustrated Ron hit his fist hard against the wooden wall behind him, causing the people in the neighboring compartment to start banging the wooden wall in return.
"Ron!" Hermione said concernedly, not paying attention to the noise "Don't let Malfoy get to you!".
"Him? Getting to me?! As if." Ron snarled. "Don't fuss over me Hermione."
Ron's foul mood may have set the tone for the rest of the train ride to Hogwarts, although Hermione had to admit that the quiet was good for her reading. Fortunately, the food at the welcoming feast instantly improved Ron's mood. His face opened up in joy as he saw the sheer amount of drumsticks in front of him.
"How is it mate, that the sight of a full plate has this effect on you?" asked Harry while already trying to get tomato sauce off his fresh set of robes.
"Food is good." Ron said, loading a mountain of mashed potatoes onto his plate.
"You're at your happiest when you're full, mum always says. And she is right."
As if to put power behind that statement, he stuffed his mouth with the mashed potatoes.
"I still can't believe all of this is made by house elves." Hermione frowned disapprovingly. "Slave labor! At Hogwarts! How can Dumbledore stand for that?"
She pushed her plate away from her body out of protest, the disgust clearly visible on her face.
Ron shook his head in disbelief. "They like working 'Mione. It's all they know. Now eat, you won't be helping them by starving yourself."
Hermione, about to fire up in protest, got cut off by the sound of her own rumbling stomach. She turned bright red, seeing Harry and Ron grinning at her.
"Fine." She bit. "But this won't be the end of it!"
She didn't want to admit it, but secretly she was happy Ron told her to eat. She had been starving ever since the whole Malfoy commotion. But she was Hermione Granger, she had principles to uphold. Unless she was dying of hunger, which at this point she really was.
The three of them enjoyed the meal, happily catching up with their friends and classmates that they hadn't seen for two months. Hermione even had a conversation with Lavender and Parvati, which was a small miracle considering the amounts of arguments the three had had over the course of the last year.
When the last person in the Great Hall finished eating, the head master stood up from his seat, immediately silencing his students. His eyes having their famous twinkle, he looked content to see his school filled with students again.
"So." He boomed brightly. "Now that we have all filled our bellies, I'm afraid I must ask for your attention. First of all, Mister Filch has asked me to inform you that certain new items made the list of forbidden objects, bringing the total count to a stunning amount of some four hundred and thirty-seven items. The list now includes Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, so if you have some in your possession, I suggest you get rid of them tonight!" His twinkling eyes seemed to rest upon the heads of the Weasley twins for a moment.
"Like hell we are." Hermione heard Fred whisper.
"We bought them for a reason." George added.
"I would also like to inform our new students, and remind some of our older ones, that the Forbidden Forest is called forbidden for a reason, and is still off bounds for all students, as is the Hogsmeade Village to all below third year." Dumbledore continued his speech.
Hermione saw Harry grinning at Ron, who was looking rather pale on the bench next to him, still remembering the spiders that they had met deep in the forest two years ago.
"Now, unfortunately I must also inform you that the Quidditch Cup will be cancelled this year."
"This - THIS." Dumbledore raised his voice to reach over the thundering sounds of protests in the hall, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October and take up most of the year."
He smiled widely at his students.
"I am very proud to tell you all that we have the honor of hosting a competition that has not been held for over a century, it is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
"No way!" Ron whispered excitedly, his eyes fixed upon the headmaster's figure.
"What is the Triwizard Tournament?" asked a confused Hermione. "I have never heard of it."
"The Triwizard Tournament was first established around seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
"Wait, people died?!" Hermione whispered alarmed.
"Shhhhht. I'm listening!" Ron cut her off.
"Now, after careful deliberation, both the Ministry of Magic and the three participating wizarding schools have decided to give it another try. A selection of students from the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute will arrive somewhere in October, and at Halloween an impartial judge will decide which students are worthy of representing their schools. These students, champions if you will, will compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons in personal prize money."
"I'm totally going for it!" Ron hissed excitedly, his face lit up with enthusiasm over the prospect of a potential thousand Galleons. And he was not the only one enthused with the idea of being the Hogwarts champion, all over the Great Hall Hermione could see people whispering ferociously to their neighbors, but when her eyes came to rest upon Harry, she could not help but frown in worry as she could see him staring at the headmaster.
Dumbledore raised his arms, asking for silence, and the sound died down immediately.
"Now, even though many of you are eager to participate, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year, for your own safety. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration."
The cries of outrage, including the one from Ron, quickly died down again when Dumbledore asked for attention once more.
"We believe, that because of the dangerous and challenging nature of the tasks, it is unlikely that younger students would be able to cope with them. Now, I will personally be ensuring that no underage student tricks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion, for I am sure that many of you would like to try."
He grinned at Fred and George's faces, the discontent among the twins clearly visible.
"Well, that's it! Classes start tomorrow so, pip pip, off to bed!"
Before Dumbledore could sit down, the sound of scraping benches filled the hall. And slowly, but surely, it emptied, leaving only a few students behind. Among those students were two ferociously whispering red head twins standing between the tables.
Ron bowed over to Hermione and Harry and whispered
"At least they can't participate either, they are turning seventeen in April, that's still months away."
"Little brother, we are so glad that education at Hogwarts taught you the difference between October and April." Fred dropped beside Ron on the bench.
"Yes, how else can we be completely sure that we are, in fact, below the age limit." George sat down next to Hermione, looking ironically at his brother."But don't worry, we won't let this stand. It's not fair, they are not stopping us from entering." He continued, and for the first time you could hear the anger in his voice.
Fred nodded. "Exactly."
A snort came from Ron's direction. "Oh, you're not actually entering are you? Haven't you heard? You're not old enough!"
The twins looked intensely at Ron, "Unlike you, Ron, who seems to be stuck at the mental age of five and could never convince anyone that you're worthy of participating, we are sure that we can let the impartial judge see it our way." started George.
"What are a few months anyway? Everyone knows we are smart enough to pull it off, besides, 1000 Galleons? It's worth a shot" Fred continued.
"Anyways, Harry, what about you? Do you want to join us and enter the Tournament? Unlike Ronald here, you might stand a chance." The twins grinned.
"What'd you say?!" Ron jumped up in anger, his ears burning bright red.
"That's our cue to leave, give us a shout if you are interested, will you Harry?" Fred winked and the twins left the Great Hall with a fuming Ron glaring after them.
"I don't even know why anyone would want to participate." Hermione stood up from her seat. "It sounds dangerous."
They all started walking towards the exit, among the last to leave the Great Hall behind, taking the stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
"Yeah but .. a thousand Galleons.. " Harry said wearily. "I understand why people would be tempted."
"Not to mention the glory." Ron said dreamily as he jumped over a trick step on the stairs, a few seconds later they heard Neville scream cause said trick step disappeared beneath his feet. Hermione shook her head, after four years he still forgot about them.
"I wouldn't mind a life on the sidelines this year though. It'd be fun to have no one trying to kill me for once." Harry said quietly.
"Yeah well, if there is someone who doesn't need any more glory, it's you mate." Ron grinned, stopping before the portrait that was the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. "Anyone know the password by a chance?" He asked, immediately turning towards Hermione.
"Balderdash." The girl sighed, not surprised at the question. "A prefect told me downstairs."
"Correct" The fat lady in the pink dress said, and her portrait swung open, revealing a hole in the wall. Hermione climbed through first, delighted to see the cozy and circular common room again after two months of summer. She couldn't help but smile at the two bickering boys who followed her. She'd missed Hogwarts, that was for sure, but she couldn't help but worry about the upcoming Tournament. She knew that the redhead would try to enter, and he could see her frown as he stood next to the fireplace, warming his hands.
"Something wrong?" He asked her.
Hermione gave him a tiny smile. "Just tired Ronald, I think I'm going to bed."
"Yeah okay. Goodnight 'Mione."
"Goodnight Ron, 'night Harry." She yawned as she took the stairs to the girls' dormitories. When she reached her floor, she pushed open the door with the brass number four on it, seeing that Parvati and Lavender, her roommates, were already sleeping. Quietly she slipped into her pajamas, and snuck under the covers of her bed. Twisting and turning, she stared at the ceiling
Oh for crying out loud, she thought, why does it have to be this year. I hoped to actually get some studying done. But no, for once no one inside Hogwarts is trying to kill Harry, and that's when Dumbledore actually invites people for a crazy murderous tournament? I swear to Merlin, if he tries to enter..
Tired of the long day, her last thought was about her successful performance of the Summoning Charm.