A/N Alright, here's the final version of Ch 5. I took the liberty of adding another Creevey brother, just because I felt that 3 was better (more annoying) than 2. Please review and let me know what you think!
Chapter 5: Memories and Musings
Platinum blonde hair violently swirled around the French woman's face. Tall and rigid, she stood near a cluster of trees that were currently providing shade for a small creek. It had been three agonizing days since Hermione's return to Big Hollow, three agonizing days of waiting to see whether or not Lupin would survive through his mystery ailment, and three agonizing days since Fleur Delacour had gotten any sleep.
"Why must I do this to myself?" she pondered, half ashamed. Her mind wandered to the memories of years and years ago.
Since becoming increasingly close to the Weasley family, the skilled witch constantly found herself alone, crying into her silk sheets. That is, until one night a concerned Ginny crept in and sidled up beside her, wrapping her in a big hug to provide comfort.
Fleur knew instinctively she could trust the redheaded beauty, and thus began pouring out all of her thoughts, insecurities, and questions. These things mostly revolved around her sexuality, which she never let flourish in fear that she would only attract people based on her Veela heritage; and around her fascination with a certain witch with bushy brown hair and a mind sharper than any she had known before. Ginny absorbed this information, never discussing it with anyone but Fleur herself.
The feedback she gave helped the troubled witch realize her fascination with Hermione was more than just a friendly curiosity... and that not only was she interested in women, but could possibly be falling in love with one.
Fleur and Ginny had thus become extremely close, bonded with a secret known only to themselves (and perhaps Dumbledore, that old man sure had a knack for knowing things that weren't told to him). Which leads us back to the present, where Fleur was standing, caressed by the wind...
A rustling sound snapped Fleur out of her thoughts, and upon turning around she noticed a silver-bearded wizard walking towards her with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Ah... Headmaster, how lovely to see you," she was smiling brightly, although a trace of gloominess flashed across her features. This did not go unnoticed by the highly perceptive, yet slightly mad, wizard.
"Well milady Fleur, it seems I have caught you at rather a bad time," he frowned a bit at her. "I am certainly pleased to see you getting out in the open. The fresh air has been especially efficient at lifting everyone's spirits."
He looked pointedly into her eyes, "I believe you will be glad to hear that Lupin is recovering nicely. We're certainly lucky that you've been helping Tonks with healing magic," Dumbledore smiled again, noticing the blush creep across Fleur's features. "I'm afraid I have something unpleasant to discuss with you at the moment, however."
The quiet, often private witch looked puzzled, "What do you mean? Is something else the matter?"
"It is purely a matter of opinion, but I would say yes," the twinkle didn't leave his eyes, but he seemed a bit more serious than before. "A certain someone has been rejoined with us for an entire three days, and you have yet to utter a single word to her." And with that, he raised his eyebrow at her and strode away, all the while humming a happy little tune and unwrapping a muggle candy.
Back in the Potter household, a small gathering of people sat in the nicely furnished living room, jovially talking and drinking butterbeer. They were celebrating Lupin's recovery, but the main conversation seemed to lead back to Hermione more often than not.
Fred and George had stopped by, decked out in the finest dragon hide suits (which were magically altered to keep the wearer at a cool temperature, regardless of the outside weather.) Their exuberance seemed to rub off even on Lupin, who aside from having nearly a full head of gray hair and a slightly emaciated appearance, looked quite happy to be spending time with his friends.
"Hey, anyone want a Trippin' Toad?" the evil glint in George's eye was enough to elicit a groan from everyone in the room. "Come on, just because it's experimental doesn't mean it's harmful!" he faked a hurt expression and smiled again.
"George," Hermione whapped his arm, "since when have you ever thought it was ok to try and trick us into eating one of your candies? Usually you're kind enough to get Neville to try it out." She grinned at the twins knowingly, having told them off numerous times at Hogwarts as a prefect. Now that she was out of school, she found their joke shop ambitions to be quite amusing. The witch was also impressed that they'd recently opened their first shops out of England, dotted along the west coast of the United States.
Fred took an exaggerated bow and protested, "Now now my dear Hermione, you mistake our pranking ways. We were only being so kind as to let our best of friends try these ingenious treats, even before our hired testers. Would you call that tricky, or just plain generous? Perhaps living away from us for so long has addled your brains..." Patting her back jokingly, he began to pass around the Trippin' Toads, eagerly awaiting the results.
"Hell," Ron spat out, "I bet Percy would even want to try the toads. The pretty salesperson they've got running the shop in Diagon Alley thinks she's spotted him in there a fair few times. The slimy git... he's sneakier than Malfoy used to be, and that's saying something." The youngest male Weasley glanced over at his two best friends, wondering if they suspected anything of him at that last sentence about Malfoy.
The Boy Who Lived finally spoke up, having sat in a corner quietly observing the boisterous group in his living room, "The Creevey brothers will be disappointed to know that they won't be the first you know." And with that, the room burst out laughing. The group knew all too well of their obsession. Colin, Dennis, and Edgar nearly wet themselves every time Fred and George even mentioned a tentative name of a new item they were planning to invent and sell.
Just as Tonks made the brave first move, ready to pop the green glowing toad into her mouth, the front door creaked open. An icy jet of air swooshed around the room, evidence of a coming storm. The initial shock of cold wasn't enough to distract Hermione from the beautiful woman who walked in. The new resident of Big Hollow thought the French woman's shy expression, flickered with a touch of embarrassment, was absolutely adorable. For a brief moment Hermione forgot all that was around her, her mind focused on two intense eyes, staring back directly into her own.