The next evening found Hermione and Fleur in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. They were holding hands, grips tight enough to bruise. Neither of them seemed to mind, and when Remus opened up the door, Hermione even risked a smile under her hood. Fleur had asked her not to wear it that morning in gentle, soothing tones, but the Gryffindor had refused with a growl in her tone. A moment later, Hermione had apologized for her anger, and promised to take it off once they got inside the house.

True to her word, Hermione undid the clasp at her throat and a happy but surprised Tonks took it from her, hanging it on one of the racks near the door. Fleur felt a wave of relief calm her senses and, almost apologetically, loosened her vise-like hold on the younger girl's hand. Hermione responded by kissing her lover's hand and wandering into the kitchen, allowing Fleur to be instantly accosted by Remus.

"How did you pull that off?"

"Excuse me?" Fleur raised a curious eyebrow.

"Hermione was bothered by taking her hood down around us, much less taking off the whole cloak and keeping it in another room."

"It is 'er form of an apology, I suppose. But she could be gaining more confidence now zat she's no longer in solitude."

"What would she have to apologize for?"

"She snapped at me this morning. It was not unexpected."

Remus paused for a moment, as if weighing his next words. Then he asked the question Fleur knew had been coming.

"You spent the night?"

"I do not really see how zat is any of your business, Remus," Fleur felt a little twinge of guilt in the fact that she could not keep a smile off of her face, "But yes, I did."

"I won't pry any more." Remus looked her right in the eyes, pain suddenly etched in his features, "Take care of her, Fleur. For all of our sakes. I…none of us have been able to get through to her since the end of the War."

"You 'ave my promise." Fleur said quietly. "But perhaps we should go into ze kitchen before they have all of ze fun without us."

"Of course."

Hermione looked up from her seat at the table at Fleur's approach, pulling out the chair next to her in a silent offer. The Frenchwoman smiled and sat next to her, and their hands joined underneath the table.

At that moment, Minerva McGonagall came in from another room, walking stick clutched firmly in her right hand. Her gait, however, was not compromised by the injuries that had placed her in the hospital, and Fleur saw raw relief soften Hermione's expression at the sight of her mentor and old Head of House.

"Professor!"

Minerva sat down across from them and intoned, "Hermione, you're an adult now and one of my best students. Please, call me Minerva."

That seemed to disorient Hermione for a moment, and Fleur knew it would probably be a while before she got used to calling her Professor by first name alone.

"Of course," Hermione recovered quickly, "When did you get out of St. Mungo's?"

"Just this morning. The Healers wanted to keep me for Christmas, but I wouldn't have any of that. Remus told me you might be here tonight, and I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you."

Hermione's lip quivered for a moment as she thought of her scars bare to the light, but the fact that Minerva had not even mentioned them was calming. Swallowing down the unwelcome tears, she forced a little bit of a smile and said, "I have someone taking care of me now."

Fleur blushed at the flattering words, and wanted to kiss Hermione right then and there, but imagined her younger lover being mortified at such behavior in front of the stern woman sitting across from them.

Obviously someone had informed Minerva of their fledgling relationship, because she reached over the table and touched Hermione's hand before murmuring, "I'm glad you found someone. Though I did not expect it would be Miss Delacour."

"I doubt zat anyone would think I would be attracted to 'ermione. I used to have ze wind whistling through my ears."

"The war changed everything." Hermione said softly, forcing her free hand to stay still rather than reach up and touch her cheek.

At that moment, Tonks came into the room with a tray of Christmas cookies and a very familiar face behind her. Hermione stood up in her chair, fingers slipping from Fleur's, and ran to embrace a dark-haired man with a slightly apprehensive expression .

"Harry, I didn't think you would be able to come!"

He wrapped arms tight around her, as if making sure she was solid rather than a ghost come to haunt him. With Hermione calmly buried into the shoulder of his jacket, the tension drained out of Harry's face. He looked across the room at Fleur, and mouthed the words 'thank you'.

Fleur gave a small bow at the neck, and Hermione looked at Harry, worry etched into her features.

"You don't care…that I…"

"Of course not, Hermione. Who you like, or don't, is your business." He kissed the top of her head. "And I've talked to Ginny. She apologized for overreacting and let me come here tonight. I was pretty glad about that, considering my previous plan was to fly my Firebolt out the window."

Remus came into the kitchen and said, "Now that everyone's here, maybe we can all sit down and drink some eggnog. How does that sound?"

Everyone made noises of assent and moved to sit down at the table. Tonks, placing the tea tray lined with plates of cookies down, knocked over the white roses in the center of the table with several apologies. Minerva pulled her wand and siphoned away the water, putting the vase upright with a small smile.

Remus Summoned the eggnog and several glasses from the kitchen cabinets onto the dark wood of the table. Harry sat down on Hermione's right, and Fleur took custody of her lover's hand once more, gently caressing the knuckles with a fingertip. It had more of an effect than Fleur suspected, and a little flush colored Hermione's left cheek as she bit her lip. The Frenchwoman noted that reaction in the back of her mind and stopped that tiny movement, a lustful twinkle in her eyes.

As Harry poured the eggnog into the glasses Remus had placed in front of him, he looked at Hermione and whispered, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

The female Gryffindor felt something pierce her heart and promptly twist. Hermione hadn't realized that her solitude would affect as many people as it had. At the time, she had been sure no one would want to see her, hooded or otherwise. She was too bitter, too angry.

"I'm sorry I hid for so long."

"It's not your fault. We were all a bunch of fools, treating you like we did. I'm surprised you were able to evade the media as well as you did, though I'm happy you managed to pull that off."

"The lone reporter that managed to find my address and show up at my doorstep ran away screaming."

"Why?"

"Apparently plastic Muggle fangs have their uses."

Harry chuckled and handed her a glass of eggnog. Hermione took a sip and watched Fleur talking to Minerva out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly felt an echo low in her body of the pleasure Fleur had given her last night, and suppressed a shudder. Years ago, there was no way she would have ever pictured herself begging Fleur for anything, much less for sexual favors. Nor had Hermione ever thought she love this beautiful witch, or that Fleur would save her from herself as she had.

In her musings, she had apparently missed what Harry was saying, and at his look of confusion, quickly said, "I'm sorry. What did you just say?"

"You really love her, don't you?"

"I know that's not what you said, but yes, I do."

Fleur squeezed her hand. Obviously she had been eavesdropping, but Hermione didn't mind in the least.

A knock at the door stopped the story-swapping and idle conversation, and Hermione got out of her chair. Fleur followed suit, and the Frenchwoman informed the table they would be happy to answer it. Remus raised an eyebrow, and Hermione blushed furiously.

When they were alone out in the foyer, the Gryffindor murmured, "I thought Remus said that everyone had gotten here."

"Perhaps he was mistaken."

Hermione made to move towards the door when there was another knock, but Fleur gripped her wrist tightly. She whimpered in confusion, and the Frenchwoman gestured up at the ceiling.

"Mistletoe." Hermione whispered.

" i Oui /i ."

When Fleur pulled her into a passionate kiss, she didn't even consider protesting. A playful bite to Hermione's lower lip made her moan softly, and both of them were oblivious to the sound of the door opening. Pulling away reluctantly, Hermione was smiling until she turned and looked into the pale and shocked face of Ron.

"R-Ron! What are you…doing here?" Hermione stumbled over her words and ended her sentence lamely, horrified that he had caught them in such a position.

He blinked once, and realized there had just been a question asked.

"Ginny told me Remus had invited me to a Christmas party here."

Fleur's hand was a comforting presence on her shoulder, and Hermione said, "Oh. So…I guess you know about her and me?"

"No offense, Hermione, but I think a lot of people do. Ginny sent an army of owls out the second she got home. But, I thought about it for a while, and…it's okay. I just never thought you would ever…be with Fleur. Of all people."

"We appreciate your maturity, Ronald." Fleur said from behind Hermione, who had let out a deep breath in relief.

He offered his open arms in a hug, and Fleur removed her hand, allowing the younger girl to wrap her arms around her old friend. Ron seemed a little tense, but that wasn't really surprising how he had found them together. Hermione kissed his cheek and the three of them trooped into the kitchen.

Remus and Tonks looked rather unsure of what was going on, but covered it as fast as they could. Hermione made a vague gesture for Remus to come over, and they stood together by the counter, talking under their breath.

"Did you invite him?" Hermione asked softly.

"Ginny told me he had disowned you as a friend the second he found about you and Fleur."

"He told me Ginny told him you had invited him, Remus."

"Something's going on here. But for now, if you're comfortable with it, we can just go on with the party and find out what's going on later."

"Of course. I don't mind his company, I just hadn't expected him to catch Fleur and I kissing, much less accept it."

"Why were you kissing?"

"Someone put up mistletoe."

Remus smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if Tonks was trying to bring a little light into this house by doing that."

"How did you get Grimmauld Place anyways?"

"After the war, we didn't need headquarters for the Order, and Harry didn't want to raise a family here. Too many memories."

"I can understand that."

"Should we go back to the table before Ron thinks he's unwelcome."

"Alright."

They both sat down at their respective places, and the night passed without interruption or hitch. Everyone was in high spirits, and Hermione turned red when they proposed a toast to her. A moment of silence followed for the victims of the war and then everything was peaceful. Fleur didn't let go of Hermione's hand for a single second.

-------------

When Fleur and Hermione got back to the Hogsmeade flat at around three in the morning, they were slightly tipsy on several glasses. They went into the bedroom and Fleur burst out laughing when the younger girl tripped over the bed in the near-dark. The Frenchwoman was quickly silenced when Hermione pulled her onto the sheets and proceeded to kiss Fleur senseless.

"I love you," Hermione whispered into Fleur's throat a few heated moments later, holding her lover tight against her chest.

"I love you too, Hermione."

And part of the Gryffindor could swear, right before she fell into a blissful sleep, she heard the soft click of a camera.