Chapter 1

Pairing: Hermione/Fleur

Summary: Fleur/Hermione. Bill and Fleur are separated forever. A hidden desire, frequent contact, discreet stares: could it happen? Hope you enjoy it. RR, please

Gender: Angst/Romance

Author Note: Please, if you don't like slash (reads female/female pairings), DON'T DARE CONTINUING!

July, 25th - 2001

"Well, well, well, Miss Scorpid. We finally met again, huh?" Katherine was standing behind the girl, leaning against the wall, watching her cross the corridor to her room.

"Well, hello, Miss Fykner, what a pleasant surprise" The beautiful dark sorceress turned back to gaze at the hazel-eyed girl

"It's nice to see you too, Anna" Katherine paused and combed her beautiful hair with her fingers, eyeing the girl deeply with her beautiful hazel eyes

"So, what brings you here, Katherine?"

"Oh, I miss you, Anna, you know I do" Katherine replied with a sarcastic grin

"Oh, really?" She arched her brow sarcastically

"Yes, of course, it's been a long time since I've seen your beautiful figure"

Anna Luiza kept staring at Katherine's beautiful cerulean eyes. Anna Luiza smirked at the other girl.

"Well, you should say it for yourself, 'but I must confess my love for your eyes, Professor Fykner" She said, approaching the girl and caressing her cheek, maintaining her gaze deep into the girl's eyes, as if she was hipnotized

Katherine wasn't expecting such a guesture and tried to guess as fast as possible what the dark sorceress was planning. She became confused, but she tried her best to not show it. Then, she felt the change of energy in Anna Luiza's hand. She flinched back and deflected the scarlet light that came out her hand

"Oh, Anna, you still so low"

"Thank you, Katherine"

Katherine just fixed her hair and started to comb it again with her fingers. Silence dominated the next few minutes, until a little noise was heard. Anna Luiza listened attentive and, when she was about to search for its source, Katherine held her firmly against the wall.

"Sorry, I got tempted" Katherine caressed the girl's hair lightly, grinning a little at the surprise look she'd received, but it was quickly replaced by Anna's signature smirk.

"Well, well, you do have beautiful eyes, Miss Fykner" Katherine smirked, with the reply ready

However, it didn't come out, as Anna whispered 3 little words in her ear: "…And gorgeous lips"

She stood in shock, and when she thought of a reaction, it was too late. Anna Luiza's full pinkish lips were on hers. Katherine felt a slight, conscious tremor, but her instincts spoke louder. Anna Luiza had a warm, tender way of kissing that ensnared Katherine. A few minutes passed before Katherine regain control and lurch back, pretending she didn't like it. She glared Anna Luiza slightly, but she didn't utter a word.

"You liked it, didn't you?" Anna teased. Katherine was furious, but showing that wasn't the smartest move.

"Of course I did, I always wanted to do that. I can go home now" She smirked with some effort and disappeared, leaving Anna Luiza alone in her castle. She went to her bedroom, certified she was alone and allowed herself to daydream. She lay in her king-sized bed, closing her eyes, thinking about the earlier events. She found Katherine really attractive, but the thought of kissing her had never crossed her mind before. It was the context, the spark of the moment: her breath on Anna's face, the way she was stunned with the comment and especially because she suspected the girl liked girls for a long time. Therefore, it was the best way to shake her, at least a bit.

At the Burrow, things were more than calm, except for Ron and Harry, who decided to act like 12 years old boys and were racing through the permitted area with their brooms.

Fleur watched them, amused 'How they can be that childish?'

"These boys…" Hermione sighed and Fleur smiled. They were both sitting on the grass, next to each other, chatting, as usual.

Since Bill's death, Fleur and Hermione became best friends, sharing their deepest secrets and telling each other everything; Ron and Hermione broke up again, due to one of their famous arguments. They'd been trying to date since God-knows-when and always have something to interrupt them; Fleur, on the other hand, wasn't fully healed from the December 16th event: she managed to carry on fine but she hadn't recovered the strength to be in another relationship.

Hermione had been crucial for Fleur, especially in the first 3 months, when the girl used to stroke her hair until she drifted into sleep, otherwise she would cry all night. They developed a strong care for each other, a little too over protective from Fleur's part, especially when Hermione was around Ron.

"I hate him, you know…"

"Oui, he waz a jerk" Fleur responded automatically, with her thoughts somewhere else.

"I mean, this is the third he has done that. When I fell in love with him, he wasn't like that!" Hermione confessed, frustrated

"I know. I rememberr 'im" Fleur tried to be as sympathetic as possible, though she really wanted to say he'd always been a jerk; Sometimes it's better to agree only.

Fleur gazed the horizon dreamily. She should be listening, but she didn't want her anger to rise, so she pretended she was neutral. Ron simply irritated her, in all the ways possible. The way he looked at her, the way he talked to her and the way he played with Hermione's heart. In fact, it was what irritated her most.

"Fleur, are you listening?" Hermione yelled

"Hum…non, I'm 'orry, 'Ermione, but you 'ave told me zat three times alrready"

"Well, you could at least pretend you're listening!"

"Well, you 'ould prretend you 'orgot 'im too!" Her accent became stronger, as annoyance and anger mixed into her heart. Her despite for Ron was rising again. She always avoided talking about him to not let this happen. After all, it's easier to pretend that you are neutral when you avoid the subject, isn't it?

Hermione stopped in her tracks and Fleur noticed how possessive she sounded: her over protection was there again, causing flames to appear in her cerulean eyes. She took a deep breath, neared Hermione and caressed her cheeks lightly, in an innocent way.

"Pardon, ma cherie. I don't like 'im 'urting you like zat" She said calmly and honestly

Hermione smiled at her friend and suddenly all the anger she felt for that attitude disappeared. Besides, she began to think that Fleur was right: she was obsessed with the boy. She loved Ron, but he was such a jerk sometimes. Ok, let's be honest: he was always a jerk. But Hermione pretended she didn't see. And love certainly blurred her sight even more.

Fleur, though, saw everything the boy did behind the girl's back. He was far from being nice, which was weird. She remembered him in the 4th year as an unpopular, plain boy, who used to hang out just with his 2 friends and his sister. However, Hermione told her that, in 6th year, he started dating Lavender Brown and she became so jealous that she invited perhaps the most irritating boy in the Universe, Cormac McLaggen, to go out with her. In 7th, he let his hair grow and his face became more adult like. Hermione said the girls just went mad and suddenly, he stopped being the friendly guy he was before. Of course, he could be described as a handsome boy, but Fleur doubted that would satisfy the younger witch's needs.

Fleur herself learnt that when she was in Beauxbatons: she dated the most handsome boy in the school, but after 1 month, she couldn't stand his glazed stares when she was talking, neither his 'I-am-perfect' speech. She needed someone who could actually hear what she was saying and disagree or add a point. She needed someone who could say 'I love you' honestly, but not 'I love you because you're stunningly beautiful'. She already knew that, anyway. She wanted a '… because you're smart, tender and because when you smile, I feel so good and, mostly, because you are yourself'. She needed someone to love and admire at the same time.

Unfortunately, she'd never found the one to care for her like that. She was beginning to question herself if that was too much to ask. Then she found Bill. A handsome, interesting man, a little older than her, but young enough to attract her with his deep green eyes, his white, charming grin, which was always there, playfully between uttered words, and well built body. He had a smart, dreamy talk and seemed challenging. She really thought he was the one. She was deeply in love with him. But he had his weaknesses, as every human. After a time, routine hit hard and all Bill seemed to want was sex. No more romantic candle-lit dinners or walks by the lake. Just the same boring routine. However, she still loved him and tried to understand that he was going through a difficult time at work. But that phase seemed to never pass, and the time flew by. Months had passed and, in a normal day, December 16th, she found his body lying on the kitchen floor.

But that didn't matter know. She didn't want to remember it anyway.

Fleur hugged Hermione and smiled at her.

"I'm a bad friend sometimes, aren't I?"

"No, you're just a little… hum…" Hermione paused "boring sometimes"

"Ah… borring… huh?" Fleur began to tickle the girl lightly. Hermione started to laugh hard.

"Oh… please, stop it!" Fleur stopped and Hermione gave her a disapproving glance.

"You look like a child when you do that"

"And you look funny when you're angrry" Fleur hinted a smile and Hermione scowled.

"Well, at least I'm not a 24 year-old girl who behaves like… like…" She stopped, trying to find the word again. But when she realized she wouldn't find it, she managed to change the subject at the speed of light "You know I hate when people do that! And I've told you that already"

"Well, Mademoiselle Granger, same thing with yourr little boyfrriend, non? You 'ave told me zat before. There is no need to tell me again" Hermione stopped, scowling even more. There was a long silence.

"Ok, let's forget it, shall we?" Hermione ended the conversation.

"Hey, boys, girls, it's time for lunch!" Mrs. Weasley called for the door

"Lett's go, then, 'Ermione" Fleur got up and offered a helping hand to Hermione.

"Thanks" Hermione said, grabbing the girl's hand and getting up. Then, they headed for the house

"So, did you manage to copy it, Luiza?" Katherine asked, seeming a little too distracted by her present thoughts

"Oh, yes. You're great distracting Scorpid, you know" Luiza replied in a cheerful tone "It was just two pages that were stuck together when we first copied it. A very important detail on Exsanguis Nedavra. Apparently, there's a way to deflect it that's even more efficient than the one we use"

"What's the difference?" Katherine asked lazily

"Well, Exsanguis is the slow, painful death curse, as you know. You can deflect it as you do with Avada or you can absorb it as a torturing curse and send it back, which doubles its strength. Isn't it fascinating?" Luiza's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, that's nice" Luiza eyed Katherine curiously. She kept gazing through the window of Luiza's office, distracted, lost in her thoughts. A brief silence tensed the room and Luiza, to break the nervous atmosphere, started combing her hair.

"Hey girls!" The handsome figure of Lance Grokesyn entered the room. Katherine looked at him and smiled, but his ability to read people's mind made him the last person she wanted to see.

"Hey, Lance, how're you doing?" Luiza greeted, smiling broadly."Pretty fine, thanks, sis"

"Hum… I'm sorry, Luiza, Lance, but I gotta go now" She stood up and left

"What's wrong with her! She's not like that!"

"Well, don't look at me like that, I hadn't had time to read her mind"

"You know reading people's thought is not nice, don't you, Lance! Let the poor girl have a privacy!"

"Well, anyway, it's not time to be discussing that. We both have classes now. It's 7th year for you now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. Wish me luck. Today is the final counter-curse. I was thinking about doing it a little more dramatically"

"You don't need it, sis" He stroked her hair playfully "You always rock"

"Rock? This expression doesn't suit you" She teased

"Well, whatever, let's go"

Ohh... I´m sorry, folks. I´m going away for a while, so I tried to get chapter 1 ready for today. I only managed to complete half of it, though, so I'll post it in 2 parts. I hope also that this chapter is less confusing than the other one. I´m trying to not reveal too much information that belongs to my other story.

And, another detail: This is the non-betaed and non revised version. It's supposed to change, ok? (Of course it will, I´m such a hopeless perfectionist)