"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Ginny yelled, her slightly dropped jaw and wide eyes evidence of a complete shock to the senses.
Hermione turned to face Ginny and give her a piece of her mind, but was firmly kept still by Fleur's strong arms around her waist.
"Nothing zat's your business," the Frenchwoman said coolly, grimacing in sadness when Hermione pulled her hood back up in a crude motion, still breathing hard from Fleur's ministrations.
"It is when the wife of my dead brother is fucking another woman!"
"Contrary to popular opinion," Hermione hissed, abandoning her attempt to escape Fleur's grip, "Marriage does have a tendency to become non-existent when one of the partners dies, Ginny. And it's pretty hard to become intimate, or using your word, fuck someone when you're wearing all of your clothes."
"You know," Ginny said in a too-sweet voice that reminded Hermione of Professor Umbridge, "I thought you turned Ron down because of Viktor. But I guess you were too busy chasing women to sleep with a man. You're disgusting."
Hermione's hands had clenched into fists, and she tensed to leap forward when Fleur sank her nails into her left shoulder, shaking her head. Hermione winced at the chastising gesture and glared at Fleur.
"'ermione, could you please give us a moment?"
The younger witch bared her teeth, but nodded. Fleur let Hermione shrug out of her grip and walk past Ginny with narrowed eyes. She left the Shrieking Shack with hunched shoulders, slamming the door behind the length of her cloak.
Ginny's eyes were bright with indignant anger, but it was nothing compared to Fleur's icy stare. They faced off silently for a moment before the older witch said, "If you 'ave a problem, say so now. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut."
"How could you betray Bill like this, Fleur!" Ginny's voice was nearing a shriek, "I thought that marriage would change you, but," she spat at Fleur's feet, "I guess you'll never be anything better than a whore."
Fleur had her wand out and pointing at the red-headed girl's throat in one quick movement.
"You speak of betrayal? Ze only traitor in this room is you, Ginevra. You and your friends turned your backs on someone who gave up all of ze beauty and vigor in 'er life so your fiancé could destroy Voldemort. You are probably going to 'ave a family soon while she's been put on a little shelf to collect dust. Call me whatever you wish, but go near 'ermione for my actions, I will make sure you get some scars of your own. Do you understand?"
Ginny looked like she wanted to snap Fleur's neck, but couldn't risk one false move with the woman's wand at her throat. So instead, she gave a curt nod, shaking with anger.
" i Bon /i . Now go 'ome before 'ermione decides to come back inside and rearrange your internal organs, hmn?"
With an infuriated glare, Ginny Apparated away, a sharp 'pop' following her exit. Fleur let out a deep breath of relief and stepped outside to find Hermione staring off into space, opening and closing her hands methodically an in attempt to relax.
"'ermione."
The younger witch jumped, hand halfway to her wand before she realized that it was Fleur that had spoken.
"Sorry," she muttered, "Old habits."
"Zat's alright," Fleur said softly, offering Hermione a hand up.
"What did she say about me," Hermione asked after a moment's pause.
"Nothing in particular. But zat was probably because I 'ad my wand at 'er throat."
The mental image of that made Hermione crack a tiny smile, the first Fleur had seen in months. Both of them realized at that instant how close they were standing again, but this time Hermione turned her head and mumbled that they 'should probably go somewhere more private before something like that happened again'.
"We, uh," she said, voice now above a whisper, "could go to my house if that's alright."
Hermione's words shook a little and were filled with both embarrassment and a deep fear of rejection and Fleur gave her a reassuring smile.
"I wouldn't mind zat at all. But perhaps we could Apparate this time rather than wearing ourselves out running."
The left side of Hermione's face turned pink, but she nodded and said with a raised eyebrow, "Race you there."
She disappeared with a tiny 'pop', leaving Fleur behind with a scandalized expression.
When Fleur appeared in front of her a few seconds later, Hermione was hiding a grin.
"Zat was not fair."
"Sorry," Hermione said, looking down at the ground.
"There's no need to 'ide your smile, 'ermione. It is not something I don't think anyone 'as seen you do in a long time."
"Yeah…I guess not."
Hermione realized then that they were standing in her doorway and dropped the wards with a nervous apology. She walked inside after Fleur, closing the door quietly. The blush on her face from before reappeared, but the French witch grabbed her hand, forcing her to look up.
"Maybe we could talk?"
Hermione nodded and Vanished the coffee cups, turning back to Fleur and asking, "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Something stronger than coffee might be a good idea."
Hermione searched through cabinets with slightly shaking hands before pulling out a large orange bottle of Firewhisky and two shot glasses, placing them on the table. She sat down only to fall to the floor with a crash, having forgotten that she had knocked over the chair before running after Fleur.
"'ermione, are you alright?"
Fleur got up from her seat quickly and helped a very flustered Hermione to her feet, righting the chair with a smile.
"Yeah," Hermione mumbled, sitting down with a furiously red face, "Thanks."
The other woman sat down across from her, pouring out the Firewhisky. She suspected that Hermione would have dropped the bottle with her shaking hands, and thought it best to avoid an accident.
"I-…um," Hermione started.
Fleur shook her head, holding up one of the shot glasses. "Drink first."
Hermione took the glass with pale hands and downed the alcohol quickly. A harsh breath escaped her as she put down the empty tumbler down, eyes flicking up to gaze at Fleur's calm features.
"I'm sorry for acting this way, but I've never done anything like…that before."
Hermione gestured to her own lips, and then looked down at the table.
"In general, or with a woman?"
"No, I've kissed before. Viktor and-," Hermione switched tracks mid-sentence, "No, never with a woman."
"It's different, isn't it?"
Fleur's words made her blush, but she said, "Yes. Very different. But not," Hermione stumbled over her next words, "not in a bad…not in a bad way."
"Zat's good to know."
"You made me feel like-" Hermione put her head in her hands, "I thought I was straight. I didn't know I…"
Fleur waited for her to finish her sentence but when no other words came, reached out to touch Hermione's hand, fingers gently resting on her knuckles.
"You don't 'ave to defend yourself, 'ermione. I probably shouldn't have told you like I did."
"No, no, it's alright. I…Merlin, I've never felt like this before. It felt so good, so right."
"There's nothing wrong with liking someone of your own gender."
"In Muggle society, it's not the most accepted thing."
Hermione's voice shook when she imagined what her parents would have thought of their daughter kissing another woman.
"To wizards, it is…privately accepted. Not something you advertise, but you are not 'ung out to dry by your family. Some purebloods are ze exception, because they are in dire need of 'eirs, but in France," Fleur smiled a little, "It is common to 'ave both men and women by your side."
"R-really? I never read anything about that-" Hermione began, but Fleur tapped her knuckles with a manicured nail.
"As I said, it is not advertised."
"Does your family know?"
Fleur sighed. " i Oui /i , but they have not forgiven me from abandoning 'ome to 'elp fight against Voldemort, so I could not see them now. Family is supposed to be more important than anything, but," she sighed, "crimes of passion are forgiven in France.
If a woman killed 'er 'usband's mistress out of love, she would probably spend ze rest of 'er life under 'ouse arrest rather than rotting in prison. If my countrymen can forgive zat, my family will someday excuse my own passions."
Hermione could tell she was homesick, but quite sure in her predictions about her family.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Non, ma cherie. It truly is alright. At ze moment, you matter more to me than going 'ome."
"I don't deserve-…I'm not worth that much, Fleur."
"I think so."
"No!" Hermione stood up, tears gathered in the functioning duct on the left side of her face. "I'm not! No one can even look at me anymore, much less love me."
She broke down sobbing, fists pressed harshly into the table. Her entire body shook as she whispered, "It's not possible."
"'ermione, please…"
The crying teenager pulled down her hood so far the fabric tore.
"Look!" She clawed at her right cheek, "Look! This matches what's inside now. You stared, just like everyone else!"
"I'm s…ah!" Fleur cried out, the tumbler in her hand shattering with her tense grip. The glass cut into her hand, and blood quickly pumped out of the large abrasions.
"Oh, gods, Fleur…"
Hermione's face went pale as she went over to Fleur, casting a healing spell quickly and Summoning a towel to clean up the blood. She cleaned up the older witch's hand, gasping out apologies in between sobs.
"Stop apologizing, 'ermione. It wasn't your fault. It was an accident."
"It is my fault! It's all my fault," Hermione said, voice hollow, "If I hadn't been so stupid. You wouldn't lie about something like love…I know that, I should have known that. You wouldn't stare on purpose…you wouldn't."
Fleur stopped her by putting a pale finger to the girl's lips.
"No, I would not. But I do apologize for doing so. Now," the woman kissed Hermione on the forehead, "why don't we sit down on ze couch so you can calm down. If you don't slow down your breathing, you are going to pass out."
Fleur gently led Hermione over to the brown leather couch in the room next to the kitchen and helped her sit down. The teenager shook and collapsed against the older woman, on the edge of hyperventilating.
"'ermione, calm down. Please. Deep breaths, in and out. In and out."
The girl did her best to obey, and after a few moments that seemed like an eternity, was finally breathing normally. With so much weight being lifted from her shoulders, Hermione slowly relaxed into Fleur's arms and for the first time in months, let herself feel at peace.