Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter Franchise or characters. All characters used are the property of their respective owners.
Special Thanks: tweety-src-clt9 for helping me flesh out the story beats. If you love Harmony (Harry/Hermione) go read, her stories. If you just like excellent writing, go read her stories.
Note: For plot convenience, I have shifted the date third tasks to later than in the books. The third task takes place in July.
Thanks to the Harry Potter Lexicon for reference information about the Prefects Bathroom.
Also, for reference, if a location change occurs and there is no accompanying date, those events are taking place on the same day.
Dangerous Part 4
Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft
Fifth-floor Prefects Bathroom
Saturday 14 January 1995
Harry had arrived a few minutes early and was now leaning on the wall opposite the door to the Prefects Bathroom. He took a deep breath and tried to smooth down his robes in a vain attempt to look unruffled when his da… his study partner turned up. 'It's not a date Potter, you're just pooling your resources to find out what the egg means. Yep, I'm pooling my resources with a gorgeous half-Veela who might be the best-looking woman in all of Great Britain … so no pressure.'
He was about to stand up straight and start pacing when the sound of high heels on a stone floor drew his attention. Dressed in the typical powder blue Beauxbaton uniform was Fleur Delacour. She smiled coquettishly at him. "Good evening Arry."
Harry cleared his now dry throat. "Good evening Fleur."
"I brought some parchment and waterproof ink with me," Fleur noted absently.
"What for?" Harry asked, while not under the influence of Fleur's allure, the thought of getting into the bath with a woman as beautiful as Fleur had turned Harry's brain to mush.
Fleur giggled. "To make notes about what we learn about the egg."
"Egg..." Harry repeated as something jabbed him in the side, which brought him back to his senses. He glanced in the direction he'd felt the jab but found no one there. Harry frowned and shook his head. "Right, the egg, this one I believe," Harry finally replied with a smile presenting the golden egg to Fleur with a flourish.
"Magnifique, shall we go in?"
Harry nodded and turned to the left of Boris the Bewildered. "Bath Bubbles."
The door swung open, and the two walked in before them sat a pool-sized bathtub sunk into the middle of the room, made of white marble, in line with the rest of the room. At one end was a diving board that Harry quietly hoped he would be able to take advantage of another time and hundreds of jewel-encrusted taps. Harry noted after a moment that he could bolt the door from the inside. "Fleur, are you ok with me bolting the door so no one can get in?"
Fleur smiled and nodded. "Oui, you were a gentleman at the ball, so I feel assured you won't try anything."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Fleur, and believe me, I would not want to get on your bad side, I saw where that ended for Roger Davies."
A disgusted look marred Fleur's face. "I believe the phrase is he tried to get 'fresh' with me after the ball. He will not make that mistake a second time."
Harry frowned and nodded. "If it bothers you, I could go with you to see the headmaster?"
Fleur shook her head. "Non, I have dealt with it, and I have spoken to Cho, and she spoke to two witches in your house…"
Harry laughed. "Lavender and Parvati, I assure you, Roger Davies will not be getting a date at Hogwarts for the rest of the year, maybe even the rest of his time at Hogwarts now those two have that info."
Fleur grinned evilly. "Good, shall we get started?"
Harry nodded reluctantly suddenly, very nervous about being semi-naked in front of this beautiful seventeen-year-old witch. Fleur, however, had none of Harry's issues and quickly shed her robes, in a moment she was standing in a silver one piece which was wrapped tightly around her body. Harry swallowed again as his eyes drifted up from the powder blue high-heels she was wearing, up her pale legs to her round ass and further to the hourglass figure, even in robes you could tell that Fleur Delacour was generously proportioned in the chest, but without the robes you could really tell. Fleur grinned thrusting her chest out for Harry to get a good look at. "Like what you see, Arry?"
Harry swallowed for the third time and nodded dumbly. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered if this was what it was like to be under Fleur's allure. Unfortunately, that thought was quashed when he felt Fleur's soft fingers push his head up from her chest to her beautiful face. "My eyes are up here, Arry."
Harry squeaked and nodded, taking a pair of steps back from her. "S-sorry, I didn't… I'm sorry, please don't burn me to a cinder."
Fleur giggled again. "Why would I do that, I enjoy you studying my body, but perhaps we should work first and then play, Oui?"
Harry nodded and took several what he hoped were calming breaths. Unfortunately, every time he looked a Fleur, all his calm disappeared. "Right… work…"
Outside Hermione was hunched down against the wall, Harry had leaned against just a few minutes before. She'd been locked out before she could slip in behind Harry and Fleur. Now Hermione was determined to sit under the cloak until they emerged. She had to know what was going on between them, for Harry's sake of course. It had nothing to do with her still liking him after everything that happened. No, she didn't like him that way at all.
'Not at all, I don't still love him, I don't, I absolutely don't,' Hermione repeated in her head, stubbornly ignoring the shrill laughter that sounded remarkably like her mother in her head.
It took the pair about an hour to decipher the egg after quickly figuring out they had to stick it underwater and listen to the Merperson song. They took it in turns sitting under the water to listen and then surfacing to recite the next part to the person manning the quill and parchment. Eventually, they finished and spent another thirty minutes reviewing the text. They finally agreed to pool their resources with Cedric and Viktor the next day.
"So, Arry, I will see you tomorrow, Oui?"
"I'd say so, would you like to sit with me at breakfast?"
"I would like that; usually I sit with Cedric and Cho and their friends Marietta and Luna, I believe we'll be sitting at the Hufflepuff table tomorrow. You are most welcome," Fleur replied as she towelled herself off.
"Sounds good to me."
Fleur walked up to Harry, both still in their bathing suits and leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips. Harry's face lit up red. "F-fleur, w-w…"
Fleur grinned, licking her lips. "That was a reward for being a good boy tonight. And if you continue being a good boy, you will get more where that came from."
Harry squeaked out a response as Fleur pulled her robes back on and reached for the door. "FleurwillyougotoHogsmeadewithme!"
Fleur paused, blinking. "Come again?"
Harry groaned at the turn of phrase, holding his robes in front of him. "Fleur, next weekend students, third-year and above can visit the Wizarding village near the Castle. Would you like to go with me?"
"You mean, like a date?"
"Yes!" Harry responded quickly, wanting to ensure what happened with Hermione didn't occur with Fleur.
"Then as you say, it's a date," Fleur replied, a dusting of pink coating her cheeks.
Finally, Harry was alone in the bathroom. He could hear the Mermaid in the picture that was hung above the bath giggling at him. "I need another cold shower…"
Harry burst through the doors of the Gryffindor Heads suite, shutting it with authority. He leant against the door taking several deep breaths. "Are you ok, Harry?"
Harry looked up and blushed, Hermione was standing at the door to her room in an open bathrobe. He could see her nightgown and her beautiful long legs underneath, he blushed and looked away, taking several deep breaths. "Yeah, I'm ok, I forgot the cloak and the map, so I almost got caught by Filch and that damn cat."
He glared at Crookshanks who was lying lazily on one of the chairs. "You're part cat, can't you talk to that fuzzball and get her off our back..."
"Crooks would never do that, Crooks is a good boy, aren't you," Hermione cooed scratching Crookshanks behind the ears, the half kneazle gave Harry a smug look as it purred at its Mistress's ministrations. "Besides, if you'd been more aware of the time instead of LARPing about in the Prefect's bathroom you wouldn't have had to sneak around."
"I wasn't LARPing about, I was studying the egg with Fl..." Harry closed his eyes, realising his slip.
"With, Fleur? That must have been fun for you," Hermione replied curtly.
"We figured out that the egg was Merperson song Hermione, we didn't do anything you might be envisioning..."
"And just what am I envisioning, Mister Potter?" Hermione asked in a huff.
"I was completely respectful, I even got a ki..." Harry said with a groan rubbing his face knowing he'd erred, again.
"Keep digging, Harry, you'll hit China eventually," Hermione observed dryly.
"I'm exhausted, cut me some slack," Harry replied.
"Maybe..."
Harry sighed. "Since we're on the topic of Fleur, I've invited her on a date to Hogsmeade next weekend."
"Does she know it's a date?"
"Yes, Hermione, unlike Ron Weasley, I learn from my mistakes."
"Do you intend on making this a regular occurrence?"
"If it goes well, yeah."
"You know Rita Skeeter will be all over this, she's not banned from Hogsmeade like she is the castle."
Harry groaned again. "I hadn't considered that... but I'm not going to let her ruin my day out with a beautiful woman."
"You think Fleur is beautiful?" Hermione asked nervously.
Harry smiled, walking up to take Hermione's hand in his. "I think you're both beautiful, one does not outweigh the other."
Hermione rolled her eyes as a fond smile played on her lips. "Smooth Potter."
Harry grinned. "I can if I try, goodnight Hermione."
"Goodnight, Harry."
Harry entered his room and immediately checked the locking charm on his trunk. To his surprise, it was intact and inside was his neatly folded Invisibility cloak. Harry was sure that it was Hermione who had jabbed him in the side earlier, but the evidence indicated otherwise. Then again Harry reasoned if anyone could break and then flawlessly reapply a locking charm, it would be Hermione. But without evidence he didn't dare ask, he'd hurt her once by making assumptions, he wasn't stupid enough to do it again.
"Could have been Peeves I guess..." Harry muttered as he changed for bed.
Meanwhile, Hermione returned to her room and gathered her clothes which had been tossed haphazardly across her bed in her attempts to change before Harry arrived back. She scowled, realising she would now have to give up precious study time to spy on Harry and his French trollop. Just to make sure she wasn't leading him on you understand, not because she wanted him all to herself.
"You don't love him, you don't love him, you don't love him," she repeated like a mantra under her breath as she laid down to sleep.
Sunday 15 January 1995
Harry was waiting when Hermione emerged from her room to go to breakfast. He rose from the couch and crossed the room. "Good morning Hermione."
"Good morning Harry."
"May I carry your bookbag for you?"
Hermione blushed a little. "You don't have to do that for me."
"Yeah, I do, I need to make up for how I treated you. So, every day I'm going to ask, and it's up to you whether you let me or not," Harry explained.
"Are you trying to win my affection, Harry?" She asked with a smile.
Harry blushed and looked down at the floor. "All I want is to be your friend again, I don't have any claim over your heart. Not after what I did."
Hermione nodded and lifted her book bag for Harry to take. He smiled and accepted it. "Good grief Hermione, how many books are in here?"
Hermione smirked. "Just enough for today's classes."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."
The two walked silently down to the Great Hall, of course, them being together and Harry carrying Hermione's bag caused some tongues to wag. Harry followed Hermione to the Gryffindor House table and placed her bag on the bench beside her. As he walked away, she called him back. "I-I thought we'd be eating together?"
"Oh, well, I guess I didn't know if you'd want me to stay, I was invited by Fleur to join her and Cedric's group at the Hufflepuff table," Harry admitted sheepishly.
"Oh, I see..." Hermione replied sadly.
Harry cursed himself, he was upsetting Hermione again, he'd vowed that he wouldn't do that anymore. "Listen, I'll just tell them I'm going to have breakfast with you."
"You don't have to do that Harry, it's ok," Hermione tried to reassure him.
"No, it's not ok, it's not ok that I didn't ask if you wanted to eat with me first. So, wait here, please?"
Hermione sighed. "Ok, Harry."
A smile that made Hermione's heart flutter a little brightened Harry's face as he not quite ran over to the Hufflepuff table. He had a quick conversation with Fleur and Cedric, which caused Harry to first look up at Hermione and then in the direction of Neville, Tracy, and Daphne before he ran back to the Gryffindor table. "Uh, Fleur and Cedric invited you to join us. Neville, Daphne, and Tracy too if they haven't started eating."
Neville glanced at the two girls who nodded. "We would be happy to join you."
"Are you sure it's ok?"
"They wouldn't have asked you to join us if they weren't," Harry replied, offering Hermione his hand.
"That's right Potter go sit at the loser's table, where you belong," Ron drawled with a smirk on his face.
"How did we put up with him for three years?" Hermione asked.
"We were clearly confounded..." Harry replied.
The five ignored Weasley walked over and sat down at the Hufflepuff table with Cedric, Cho, Fleur, Marietta, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbot. Harry smiled as he sat beside Fleur, which made Hermione blanch, not that Harry noticed. "Harry, Hermione, this is Luna Lovegood, she's a third-year Ravenclaw, Marietta and I have sort of adopted her as our little sister. Some of the other girls were bullying her when she first joined but we put a stop to it."
Luna stared at Harry and Hermione, her large ocean blue eyes looking back and forth between them. "You have a rather wicked nargle infestation. I have some spare radish earrings I could give you."
The two blinked. "What are Nargles?"
"They're magical creatures only Luna can see, she's a bit different, but we like different in Ravenclaw, at least most of us do. Rowena was always said to be a bit spacy, but that's because she had magical sight." Marietta explained. "You should watch out for this one Granger, she's whip-smart, you could see your academic records toppled soon."
Hermione smiled. "I look forward to the competition."
The group continued to enjoy breakfast until the hall was near empty; eventually they packed up and walked together to the Library, where they were joined by Viktor. Harry raised a questioning eyebrow. "Is Draco not with you?"
Viktor shook his head. "He didn't want to cause a scene, we like each other very much, but we have very different views on some things."
"Like muggle-born magical?"
Viktor nodded. "I think I can bring him around eventually."
"Good luck with that…" Harry said with an undertone of sarcasm that Viktor chose to ignore.
The group broke up with the four champions sitting at one table with Harry and Fleur's notes on the Merperson song, and the other, longer table occupied by Hermione, Neville, Daphne, Tracy, Luna, Susan, Hannah, Cho, and Marietta. The four champions poured over the wording of the song for a better part of the day, it wasn't difficult to piece together the meaning, but that was what troubled them.
"We'll have one hour to swim to the bottom of Black Lake and retrieve whatever is most precious to us… I like that turn of phrase less and less, and I didn't particularly like it in the first place," Harry commented.
"It's too vague… no scratch that, it doesn't give you a bloody clue what that item may be," Cedric replied.
Viktor folded his arms over his chest. "I suppose we should think about what we would miss the most."
Harry let out a huff. "I guess maybe, my broom, not just because it's a Firebolt, but because it was a gift from someone precious to me."
"My Firebolt was a gift from my team coach, he is a man I hold in high regard," Viktor replied in agreement.
"I can't say I hold any particular affinity for my broom, it's just one of the school brooms. I have a journal that my father gave me, it's engraved with my initials and it has a photo of my family in the cover." Cedric explained.
"I have a hairbrush that has been passed through my family from my great grandmother, my mother gave it to me when I was accepted at Beauxbaton," Fleur said finally.
"This is assuming they know what things we'd miss most. I wouldn't trust Bagman to know much besides the odds on the next English Quidditch match." Harry observed.
"They might simply ask us for an item we would miss and then have us retrieve it," Cedric offered.
Harry smiled ruefully. "There's the Hufflepuff spirit, always optimistic."
"I can only try Harry," Cedric teased with a smile.
Over at the other table, Hermione was observing Harry, more specifically, she was watching the interaction between Harry and Fleur carefully. She didn't like how close the French witch sat to Harry, or the gentle touches she gave him or the smile that brightened his face every time he looked at her.
"Jealousy isn't very attractive Granger," Daphne commented.
"W-who said, I'm jealous?" Hermione demanded shrilly.
Daphne smirked up at the brunette. "I did."
Hermione huffed. "I'm not jealous, of anyone."
"Uh-huh…" Daphne replied turning the page in her Arithmancy textbook.
"So, from his behaviour this morning, I assume you and Harry have kissed and made up?" Hannah asked.
"I wish Harry would kiss and make up with me..." Susan observed wistfully.
"You and half the girls at Hogwarts," Hannah commented dryly.
"At least all the girls over the age of fourteen," Daphne offered.
"W-we have certainly not kissed, b-but yes, I guess you could say we've patched things up, somewhat."
Daphne rolled her eyes, leaning over to kiss Neville on the cheek. "This is what I get for having a Gryffindor for a boyfriend. Oh well, I guess I'll keep him."
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, Harry didn't tell you? My Neville gave him a good telling off for how he was treating you yesterday, and today you're back to being friends and pining for him."
"I am not pining for Harry Potter!" Hermione shouted, slamming her book shut. She quickly gathered her things and stormed out of the library. Harry looked up and between where Hermione had stormed off and the table she'd been sitting at. Daphne gave him a mild shrug and returned to her studies.
Harry felt a hand on his arm and found Fleur watching him. "Go after her Arry."
He smiled and nodded, taking off after his best friend. He ran up to Gryffindor tower with a plan to grab the map and find her that way when he heard a sob coming from Hermione's room. He knocked hesitantly. "Go away Harry."
"No, not until I'm sure you're ok."
Hermione padded over to the door and buried her face in his chest. "I was so embarrassed."
"I know."
"I'm not pining after you..."
"I don't deserve you pining after me even if you were, I've been a complete bastard recently. Being a teenager sucks."
"I won't disagree," Hermione replied, her eyes widened when she realised what she'd said. "T-that being a teenager sucks, at least."
Harry smiled sadly patting Hermione's hair. "I know."
Hermione stepped back, pulling a handkerchief from her robes to wipe her nose. "Oh, I made a mess of your robes..." Hermione commented pulling out her wand and waving away the mess.
"Thank you."
Hermione smiled brightly. "You're welcome, did you want to do some studying?"
Harry shook his head. "Not right now, I think I'm just going to lie down for a while."
"Oh, ok, well, you're always welcome to join me," Hermione offered.
"I appreciate that."
Harry walked into his room and closed the door pressing his forehead against the wall. "Give it up Potter, you had your chance, and you fucked it up. There's no coming back from that."
Out in the common area, Hermione was feeling a bit smug. While she'd been genuinely embarrassed by Daphne, it did have the unintended side-effect of Harry rushing to her side to make sure she was ok. It made a happy little balloon rise inside her that she was more important than Fleur Delacour, in Harry's mind.
Great Hall
Wednesday 18 January 1995
Hermione huffed a little as she locked her sights on Daphne Greengrass and Neville Longbottom, she hadn't quite forgiven Daphne for embarrassing her in front of Harry the previous Sunday, but that was beside the point now, she needed help.
Hermione marched over to the Gryffindor House table and took a seat opposite the pair and Tracy Davis. "Daphne, I need to borrow your boyfriend on Saturday."
Daphne smirked a little. "Oh? And why is that?"
Hermione scowled. "I need to follow Harry on his date with Fleur."
"He's going on a date with Delacour, colour me jealous," Tracy commented with a smirk.
"I don't understand what that has to do with me; besides, I thought you didn't love Harry," Neville asked.
"I just want to make sure she doesn't break his heart. I mean, how many witches in this castle, regardless of what school they belong too would love to be seen on the arm of Harry Potter, regardless of how he'd feel about it?"
"I don't think Fleur is like that..." Neville commented.
"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't, we just don't know enough to say either way. We need to protect Harry!" Hermione replied shrilly.
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Neville dear, indulge her, just this once."
Neville groaned. "I'm going to regret this... fine."
Hermione grinned. "Thank you."
"So, are you finally going to admit you're pining after Potter?" Daphne asked teasingly.
Hermione frowned. "No, because I'm not. Harry is my best friend, despite everything that happened recently, I don't want some French... witch to lead him on only to break his heart when she has no interest in pursuing anything serious."
"You mean the same way you treated Potter after the Yule Ball?"
Hermione scowled and glared at the blonde Slytherin turning instead to Neville. "I'll see you on Saturday in the Common Room."
"Sure," Neville responded, Hermione, rose from her seat grabbing a sandwich as she left the table. Once she was gone, Neville dropped his cutlery on his plate. "That wasn't fair, Daphne."
"It wasn't fair that she broke Potter's heart either, I'm not saying what he did was right either," She quickly added when Neville was about to object. "All I'm saying is Granger wasn't entirely blameless. She had every opportunity to tell him she just wanted to go as friends and didn't take it until the worst possible moment. Am I wrong?"
Neville frowned. "No, I suppose not, it just hurts to see my friends suffering like that. Especially when it's so obvious, they love each other."
"Obvious to you and I perhaps, but then Gryffindor was never considered the brightest house."
Neville made a face. "What about me?"
"You decided to find the courage and ask me to be your date to the Yule Ball, you're clearly an exception to the rule."
Neville smirked. "Nice save."
Gryffindor Common Room
Saturday 21 January 1995
Hermione paced at the base of the stairs to the dorms. She glanced up the boy's stairs every few seconds for signs of Neville, who was running late. Ron sneered at her from his spot near the fireplace. "You're just embarrassing yourself now Granger, Potter is long gone, he's out with that Veela slut."
"I'm not waiting for Harry, Ronald, I'm going to Hogsmeade with someone else," Hermione hissed in Ron's direction.
Ron laughed. "Good one Granger, who is it, the Bloody Baron, Nearly Headless Nick?"
"It's me actually Ron," Neville commented as he descended the stairs.
"Finally," Hermione huffed.
"So, you finally wised up, well I guess Granger is a slight step up from a snake, but only slightly," Ron commented.
"And just who are you going to Hogsmeade with?" Neville asked.
"Not going, everyone making kissy faces all day makes me ill."
"Are you sure it's not the metric tonne of food you stuff down your throat?" Hermione asked.
Neville smiled. "For your information, Daphne is going to Hogsmeade with Tracy, so I invited Hermione to go with me as a friend. You remember what those are Ronald? You seem to have very few of them these days."
Ron glared at the two as they exited through the portrait hole. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Neville turned to Hermione. "Sorry, I had to untangle the locking charm on my trunk, someone had been trying to riffle through it, again."
"I could teach you the alarm spell too if you like, it'll sound like a klaxon until you turn it off. Should give Ronald a good headache," Hermione offered as Neville helped her into the coach.
Neville smirked. "No, that's ok."
The trip down to Hogsmeade was quiet, soon they were in the village, Hermione's eyes darted about trying to find either Harry's messy black hair or a trail of men drooling uncontrollably. When she saw neither, she sighed. "Looks like they're in one of the shops."
"I suggest we wait at the Three Broomsticks, they're bound to turn up there eventually, for lunch. I don't see either Fleur or Harry being the type to frequent Madam Puddifoots tea shop," Neville suggested, a small shudder passing through him at the thought of the infamous tea shop, also giving silent thanks to Merlin that Daphne was not that type of girl either.
"Good idea," Hermione replied.
Once inside, Hermione's eyes and ears were immediately drawn to a French-accented laugh from a booth near the back of the room. They had located Hermione's quarry, Fleur was laughing at Harry's animated description of something, from the movements he was making with his arms Hermione guessed it may have been something to do with their first year at Hogwarts and Fluffy. Hermione directed Neville to a nearby booth, angled in such a way that Hermione could see Fleur… them, but Harry, they couldn't see her.
When Madam Rosemerta approached the table, Neville ordered two Butterbeers and a plate of sandwiches for lunch. While Hermione's head darted about looking around the older woman in the direction of Harry and Fleur's booth. Hermione watched, angrily eating one of the supplied sandwiches later as Fleur almost doubled over in laughter at Harry's awful attempts to order Bouillabaisse for Fleur in French. Thankfully for Harry's ego, Madam Rosemerta got the gist and returned soon after with the order.
After lunch Hermione and Neville followed Harry and Fleur at a reasonable distance, the two entered Zonko's Joke Shop after Harry and Fleur. Neville pretended to examine the products on the shelves, while Hermione hid behind a cabinet and watched as Harry and Fleur chatted to Fred, George, and Ginny Weasley. She could see the naked jealousy in Ginny's eyes as she watched Fleur hang off Harry's arm, nodding in rapt attention at what Fred and George were saying. Hermione punched the cabinet when she saw Fleur plant a kiss on Harry's cheek. Unfortunately, this knocked one of the products loose, a Fanged Frisbees, which activated when it hit the floor.
Fleur screamed as Harry shielded her with his body as they bolted to the door. Hermione and Neville meanwhile took cover on the floor as more Fanged Frisbees were knocked off the display and flew into the air. Heedless of the chaos she was creating behind her, Hermione crawled on her stomach to the door, she managed to pull Neville out behind her as she spotted Harry and Fleur walking towards the Hogs Head pub.
"Come on!" Hermione stated as she pulled Neville by the arm of his tattered robes as he looked back in despair, hearing the smashing of glass and the yells of angry customers inside Zonko's.
Hermione groaned when she landed in a muddy field after scaling a fence behind the Hog's Head, which she was relieved to find Harry had given a wide berth, instead leading Fleur to a small garden nearby. She crept forward to the other end of the pen, peering through the fence to watch Harry and Fleur sitting on a bench. The two sat quietly holding hands. Hermione felt something tugging on her robes and waved her hand. "Not now Neville…"
The tugging continued, and Hermione grabbed her robes to pull them back towards her. "Neville, stop!"
Upon hearing the tearing of fabric, Hermione rounded on her friend. "Neville, what the…"
Hermione stopped staring at Neville who had just landed in the mud behind her, after scaling the fence. Her eyes slowly drifted over to the one responsible for her now torn robes. Aberforth Dumbledore's goat. "Bleh!"
Hermione screamed as the goat charged her, climbing over Neville to reach the fence, scrambling to safety. Neville wasn't quite as lucky, as the goat headbutted him in the face, breaking his nose in the process. So, it was a bloodied and bruised Neville Longbottom who was helped into the carriage to Hogwarts ten minutes later by a glaring Daphne Greengrass. "That is the last time you get favour from us, Granger!"
"I'm so sorry!" Hermione said, looking worriedly at Neville.
"It's fine, Hermione, who knew a goat's head was so hard," Neville replied, his voice muffled by the cloth he was holding up to his broken nose.
Daphne glared at Hermione who dropped her head. "No idea…"
Daphne, Tracy, and Neville took a carriage back to Hogwarts, while a dower Hermione walked back on her own. It was almost dark when Harry returned to the Head's suite with a smile on his face. Hermione looked up from trying to sew her robes back together. "Have fun?"
"Yeah, Fleur is great," Harry proclaimed happily.
"So, are you going to go out with her again?"
"That's the plan," Harry replied, pausing a beat. "Is that ok?"
Hermione sighed, packing away her sewing kit. "Why wouldn't it be?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me, you've seemed unhappy since I asked Fleur to go to Hogsmeade with me."
"I'm just worried Harry, I don't want Rita Skeeter to make something about of you dating Fleur, you know what the public is like. Some will get really offended that a foreign witch is on your arm, worse, a foreign witch who is a Veela. The things I got sent after that article in the Prophet were horrible."
Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry…"
Hermione waved her hand. "You didn't do anything wrong, well, not where that is concerned. Anyway, I'm worried about you, Harry."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Hermione, but I'll be ok, I promise. Fleur and I are taking things slow, this could just end up being a holiday romance, I hope not, but if it is, we'll have some fun together and make some good memories."
Hermione nodded. "Ok."
"Goodnight Hermione."
"Goodnight, Harry."
As Hermione entered her room, Harry stopped outside his. "Um, do you know why Neville's nose got broken?"
Gryffindor Heads Suite
Sunday 22 January 1995
It was early next morning when Hermione heard a knock at the door of the Heads suite, she pulled a bathrobe around herself and entered the common area. Opening the door, she found Fleur Delacour standing in front of her. "Good Morning, Hermione, we need to talk."
To Be Continued…
Thank you for your patience, things have been rather stressful around he the last few days. I won't go into why but I had this finished almost a week ago, but I couldn't post it until I'd run it through my usual program. I don't know when I'll have the next chapter out, hopefully soon. Fingers crossed next week will be better.
I'm also slightly worried about what people think happened to Hermione's Mum, I promise it's probably not as dramatic as you've got in your heads. Anyway, you will find out next chapter, promise. (I can make that promise because I've already written it.) I will try to update Harry Potter and the Dance Macabre and address the future of that story there. (Don't panic, it will be finished I'm just changing my release schedule for it.)
Thanks for reviewing:
Sykartracer
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Chaos Snow Kitsune
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Review Responses:
madammayor28: Thanks for your review, I won't tell you what the pairing will be, that's a spoiler, it will be clear by the start of chapter 6 though. Whatever way this ends up Fleur will not become an evil bitch who is out to hurt Harry. The only asshole, well aside from Malfoy, in this story is Ron Weasley, but that's par for the course in my stories.
