Fleur

Hermione, the name rattled around my mind as I left the duo behind me, I could feel people staring at me and knew that the massive grin on my face hat to be at least part of the reason. But I couldn't help myself; the euphoria spread from the soles of my feet to the tip of my head as my heart pounded away excitedly in my chest. During the entire conversation, I was worried that my emotions would simply leak out or maybe even burst forth having me sweep the young witch off of her feet and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. But thankfully, I was able to control myself and, hopefully, endear myself to her even by a little bit.

"Fleur?" My quietening heart thumped once again as the unmistakable sound of my Mate's voice drifted to my ears.

I felt as my steps faltered and I stumbled just a little, "Merde," I cursed under my breath as I righted myself, hoping the brunette didn't notice as she approached me.

I turned to regard Hermione with what I was hoping was a relaxed smile, desperately keeping the blush from covering my cheeks, "Yes, Hermione?" I asked, keeping my voice level.

"I'll get straight to the point, why is Harry still in the Tournament? I thought for sure that he would be disqualified for being too young," As the brunette spoke, I had to stop my mind from floating away at the sweet tone of her voice.

"According to Mr. Crouch, the Goblet creates a binding magical contract with whoever puts their name into the Goblet, so whoever's name gets chosen is obligated to participate," I answered for the younger witch.

I could practically see the cogs in Hermione's mind whirling as she processed the information, "But then Harry would only need to participate if he put his own name into the Goblet, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders at the question, "I don't know how it all works Hermione, Professor Dumbledore would, but he left the decision up to Mr. Crouch, so maybe the contract is actually just attributed to the name rather than both the name and who puts it in."

Hermione shook her head at the thought, "If that were true then that would make no sense because then any name could be thrown in, say if someone wanted to have a little fun, they could even throw a Professor's name in. So that doesn't fit."

I nodded along with the younger witch, "That's true, but since it was made for students maybe there are other security measures in place to make sure that no Professor's names are placed in the Goblet." I didn't believe it myself; I just wanted my time with the young witch to continue for as long as possible.

"I'm not going to say that that is impossible, but it is highly unlikely as that would mean they need to somehow update all the names that can be selected and I just don't know how you do that with magic. Which leads me to the conclusion that Harry does not need to be in the Tournament; he is being forced to do it when there is simply no need for him too."

"That may be true," I sighed at the unfortunate circumstance, "But don't worry too much about it, Harry will be fine," I told the brunette as I laid a comforting hand on the girls shoulder, my heart skipping a beat as the warmth of the other girl spread through my hand and up my arm, seeking out my heart.

Hermione looked pointedly at me, "How can you be so sure?" She whimpered, and I felt the jealous side of me beginning to rear its ugly head, "The Triwizard Tournament is supposed to be extremely dangerous."

I fought the urge to pull the young witch into a comforting hug, no matter how much I wanted to I knew it was too soon as I had just met the girl, not only that but I also knew that I would not be able to control my emotions should I get that close to the witch. Instead, I placed my other hand on the girl's other shoulder and looked into her eyes firmly.

"I am sure because I will be protecting him to the best of my ability, your Headmaster has asked me to do this, and Harry is nowhere near ready to be in such a challenge."

To my surprise, the brunette lunged at me, her arms wrapped around my torso had held tightly to my midsection, "Thank you," The girl said her relief evident in her voice.

I moved my hands, so I was holding the girl around her upper back but not quite her shoulders, I kept my breathing level and quiet as I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her being so close. I shuddered as I took a short sniff of the air around us and relished the scent of vanilla mixed with a more subtle lavender and knew that that was a scent I wanted to wake up to every morning and fall asleep next to every night.

I grimaced as the girl pulled away, and the look of worry remained in her eyes, "Are you okay?" She asked, once again surprising me.

"What do you mean?" I asked before realizing what she was talking about, as I was solely focused on controlling my actions, I didn't realize that my heart was beating like crazy, and since Hermione's head was resting on my chest, there was no hiding what was happening inside me.

"Your heart is hammering pretty hard," The witch turned her head to the side, curiously, "Why is that?"

I began to blush profusely as my mind searched for an answer that wouldn't just scare the girl away or make her worry unnecessarily about either myself or Harry, I smiled coyly at the younger witch, "I'm just excited. I wasn't sure that I was going to be selected to be a Champion and I've been on cloud nine ever since my name was called," I lied, truth be told I didn't even care about the Triwizard Tournament now, now it was just a tool to use to impress the girl standing in front of me.

Hermione facepalmed at my answer, "Of course," The girl said with a soft giggle that set my entire being on fire, "That's the whole reason that you're here so of course, you're excited, especially since you're prepared for the Tournament."

I was a little upset at hearing the girl say that all I was here for was the Tournament, but it was better that then having her run off screaming or something like that because I had pronounced my love for the younger witch after knowing her for all of five minutes.

"Okay, well, I should get back to the Common Room, it's got to be getting close to curfew. Good luck with the Tournament and thanks again for helping Harry," Hermione said with a smile.

"Thank you, Hermione," Was all I could think to say before the girl turned and walked off down the Hall, I couldn't keep my eyes from wondering over her clothed body as she walked away.

I turned and headed back the way I was walking earlier, noticing that there were now no other students in the Hall and I wondered just how long we had been talking. The thought quickly left my mind as I walked out of the castle and was hit by the bristling chill of the outside world.

"I wondered how long you'd take," I heard the musical voice of my little sister not far away from me. She was standing in the cold and wearing what to be at least three jumpers to account for the extra mass that appeared to be on her. Thankfully she was holding out a long, very thick jacket to me which I gratefully took and threw over my already shivering body.

"How is it so cold?" I asked in frustration, obviously already knowing full well why.

"I don't care about that," My sister babbled, "What happened when you went to talk to your Mate?"

I shushed my sister immediately as a couple of students walked by, luckily, they hadn't heard what my sister had said. "Let's go back to the carriage and discuss it there," I said as I took Gabrielle's hand and walked with her towards the vast field that our carriage had set down in.

"Why is it that the carriage seems so far away when you want something?" Gabrielle complained in annoyance before pouting.

I laughed at my little sisters' antics as we moved towards the carriage, the blue, oversized vehicle already in view but my sister just kept right on pouting from my side.

"The carriage is right there, Gabi," I laughed as I pointed to the vehicle.

"Right there or passed the forest it doesn't matter, it may as well be halfway around the world," Gabrielle grumbled as she picked up the pace, dragging me along behind her. "Come on, if you are going to make me wait till we get there, then we are going to be moving faster."

I just laughed as I picked up my pace a little, allowing my sister to drag me along behind her with a grin on my face every time she turned back to scowl at me. We made back to the carriage in no time, my sister barging passed any other students that got in her way, I simply apologized to each girl as we passed, flashing them a brilliant smile that had each one blushing and saying it was nothing with smiles plastered on their faces.

"Finally," My sister groaned as she threw the door to my room open and stomped inside, I followed her in and closed the door softly behind me, not wanting to be scolded should Madam Maxime be in the carriage already.

"What's the rush for Gabrielle?" I asked in teasing voice as I sat on my bed, my eyes following my sister as she paced frustratedly.

The glare my sister leveled on me stated a fit of laughter that, the time I was finally finished, had my sister laughing as well as she calmed down from my teasing. I motioned Gabrielle to join me on the bed and hugged her tightly as an apology for my earlier teasing. My sister hugged me back; she has never been one to turn away a little sisterly skin-ship, no matter how she felt about me at the time.

"Now, what is it that you want to know, sis?" I asked softly, as I rubbed my hand absentmindedly over the silky-smooth skin of her arm.

What's her name?" Gabrielle asked immediately.

I chuckled a little as I was filled with happiness, "Her name is Hermione," My smile when I said the name in private went from ear to ear. "And she's so beautiful up close," I continued without any prompting, "She's bright and seems like a brilliant young witch. And her voice," I closed my eyes as I imagined her British accent once again floating through my ears, "Let's just say I could listen to her read the dictionary and I wouldn't be bored."

My sister laughed at that, "I doubt that very much Fleur."

"You'll find out one day Gabi, when you meet your special someone," I said as I bopped her on the nose, causing the girl to yelp before she wriggled out of my hug, knowing precisely what was coming had she not gotten away.

"Dammit Fleur, why do you have to ruin the hug all the time," Gabrielle pouted from her position halfway to my door.

I laughed again, "How can I not when you react in the cutest ways? Your Mate is definitely going to do it too," I teased.

Gabrielle blushed a pretty shade of pink at that, "No they won't!" She exclaimed incredulously, "They will be the nicest person alive and will never do anything to annoy me."

"They will when you act that cute," I called out as Gabrielle left in a huff, leaving me alone for only a few moments before she walked back into my room, a sad look on her face.

"Do you really think I'll find them?" Gabrielle whispered sadly as she sat back down next to me, my earlier teasing mood evacuating at the sadness in the girls' voice.

I sighed as I wrapped my arms around the shaking young girl, "You shouldn't be thinking like that, Gabi," I told the girl thoughtfully.

"But so many of our kind have died before ever meeting their Mate's… What if I don't find mine?" Gabrielle whimpered, her head resting against my shoulder.

I was upset that my finding my Mate had brought this to the forefront of my sisters' mind, but I suppose it was better that it happened now, at least I could fill the young girl with hope. I rubbed my hand up and down Gabrielle's back comfortingly.

"I'm sure that you'll find them, and when you do, they'll be just as amazing as you've always dreamed and will fall head over heel's for you the second they see you," I assured the girl. "I will make sure that you don't go your entire life without finding them," I promised the girl and myself that I would do everything and anything to help my sister if I needed to.

Gabrielle sniffed a little as she raised her head from my shoulder, "Thanks Fleur, I think I should go to bed now, though."

My heart quaked at the sadness I heard in my sisters' voice and, as she began to move away from me, I reached out my hand and grabbed her wrist, pulling the young girl back to me. I stared into her sad eyes and wondered if I had gone through the same thing when I was younger, I couldn't quite remember if I felt as sad as my sister looked, but I know that I was at least worried about it.

"Gabrielle," I spoke seriously, staring deeply into her eyes, "There is nothing on this Earth that will stop me from finding your Mate for you if you can't find them yourself. Even if it takes me to the other side of the world."

Gabrielle smiled at me, "I know Fleur," Gabrielle spoke quietly before silence ruled in my room once again. A few minutes later, I finally released my sisters' wrist, "Uhh… Fleur, could I sleep here tonight?" Gabrielle asked uncertainly.

"We haven't slept in the same bed for a few years, but sure, let's do that," I grinned before standing from my bed, "But before we do that we should shower, it's been a long day."

Gabrielle nodded, and within half an hour we were both laying in the single bed that was assigned to me, thanks to my sisters' lithe form we both fit in the bed easily. We were laying right next to each other, and I was hugging my sad sister close to me, but we were still comfortable on the small bed.

Hermione

I was sitting in the dorm room that I shared with four other girls; each one had gone to sleep about an hour ago but I was still sitting at the small desk that I had claimed in my first year of school, a book lying open in front of me as I put notes in a brand new notebook. I had checked the book out of the library and decided that rather than get books out whenever I needed them, I'd instead take notes on the critical details of the book's that I figured I would need the most.

But even though I had the book open and had been sitting here for hours, I was yet to finish even a quarter of the book; my mind was occupied elsewhere. I was still a little worried about Harry, despite Fleur's assurances, but I was more focused on the pounding of Fleur's heart when I had uncharacteristically hugged the tall French girl.

She said it was just excitement, which I had accepted immediately at the time but now that I really thought about it, I could hear her heart the entire time I was hugging her, and it had started to speed up during the hug, not already pumping at full tilt. I scratched my head in confusion, as I pondered what could have been going on with the girl.

After some time, I shrugged as I concluded that maybe she just wasn't used to such displays, especially not from someone that was basically a complete stranger. There really was no other option, Unless she's attracted to me, I laughed at the stray thought, "Yeah right," I said aloud to myself before I tried to start taking notes again, to no avail.

"Ugh, I'm going to bed," I mumbled after another ten minutes of sitting at my desk doing nothing.

. . .

I was standing in a large, open grass field, in the distance, in every direction, were large dark hills that hid the grass plain, and in effect, me, from the prying eyes of the rest of the world. I sighed in content as I walked through the long grass, spreading my arms and opening my hands to allow the blades of grass to tickle my palms and fingers as I moved.

I laughed happily as my hair billowed in the cool breeze. I stood still in the field and spread my bare arms, allowing my skin to soak in the warming rays of sunlight. The sheer white dress I wore was light and soft as it rubbed against my legs thanks to the wind blowing past.

"Where are you?" I called out to the open field and heard the unmistakable sound of a girl giggling in the distance.

My face lit up in a smile as I headed towards the sound, "I'm going to find you~" I cooed as the giggling got louder.

I walked for a few minutes until I felt a soft hand brush up my calf before I was pulled toward the ground by the girl beneath me. We laughed together as I found myself in the arms of another laughing girl that was holding me around the waist lovingly.

"Took you long enough to get here," The girl cooed in a beautiful French accent.

"Oh whatever," I said as I swatted her arm lightly, "You didn't exactly make it easy for me to find you."

"But still, I thought you were the smartest girl alive; you should have been able to find me quicker than you did," The girl teased as she rolled us over, the taller girl finishing up on top of me.

"I am the smartest girl alive, Fleur, your just very good at making clues, I only apparated to two other fields before this one," I explained to the older girl.

"Oh you," Fleur said in fake embarrassment as she hid her face away from me.

I laid a hand on the girls' soft cheek and turned her head to face me; the entire rest of the world faded away as I stared into her sapphire blue eyes. Her eyes began to grow larger as I moved towards the girl before I closed my own eyes and-

. . .

I awoke the next morning with a blush on my face; I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as my mind was a flurry after the dream I had just had. I looked to my left and then right to see that my dormmates were all still asleep. I raised a hand to my lips, "What was that dream?" I asked the open air, hoping somehow the answer would come to me.

As no answer was forthcoming, I instead rose from my bed while grumbling, with my mind still fogged by sleep, I accidentally stood on the tale of my half Kneazle, Crookshanks, causing it to shriek loudly before dashing away to a nearby windowsill. I looked apologetically towards the animal that was glaring at me as it laid down on the windowsill it had sought safety on. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders before continuing to get ready for the day ahead, Crookshanks would forgive me soon enough and come begging for the occasional pat.

"Good morning, Hermione," Parvati said from her bed, "Heard you attack your cat," The Indian girl joked.

I smiled at the girl, "Yeah, unfortunately, he was sleeping mostly under my bed, just his tail was sticking out, and I accidentally stood on it," I explained as I rooted around in the small dresser by my bed.

"Yeah, that'll do it," The dark-skinned girl yawned as she stretched her arms high above her head. I glanced at her from my spot at my dresser and felt my cheeks flush, and my heart speed up as I took in the sight of her graceful body as she stretched her tired muscles.

I quickly turned back to my dresser and focused on collecting clothes for the day before I was caught staring at the Indian girl. With my face still flushed, I made sure I was turned towards Lavender while I got dressed as I knew she was still asleep and wouldn't be up for quite some time.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully which wasn't exactly ideal as it meant I was left alone to my confusing thoughts about the dream that I had had the night before and then the way my body reacted to Parvati's body. I shuddered as I remembered the view I got from the other girl, and my mind was sent into a confusing spiral. It wasn't like I didn't know what was going on, I was more surprised than anything that I was, at the very least, bisexual, although this was the first time that I had ever felt attracted to someone.

I was so muddled in my thoughts that before I knew it, I was sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall with an already empty plate in front of me. I hadn't even seen Harry yet, but Ron was sitting silently on the other side of the table, still sulking over what he perceived Harry did.

I just left him to sulk on his own knowing that he wouldn't talk about anything else right now if I tried to start a conversation with him. So instead I looked around the sparsely populated Great Hall, not looking for anyone in particular, mostly just filling my time before I decided to head off in the direction of my next class. As I was waiting, however, Harry and the rest of the Champions made their way into the Great Hall, followed by a large group of other students.

Viktor and Cedric walked towards their usual tables, and Fleur moved to head towards hers but was stopped by Harry. In no time at all, the dark-haired boy was approaching with the silvery-blond in tow along with a smaller, carbon copy of herself walking timidly towards the table. The smaller girl seemed to be staring at me as she approached, I smiled at the little girl who reciprocated before tugging on Fleur's arm and whispering something to the older girl, causing her to smile.

"What took you so long?" I asked Harry as he sat down on my left, Fleur and the younger girl sitting on my right.

Harry began grumbling something about the Daily Prophet and a woman named Rita Skeeter, but that was all I could get as he started to eat listlessly.

"Apparently the writer from the Daily Prophet has taken a keen interest in our youngest Champion, his name is going to be all over the paper by the weekend," Fleur giggled cutely a little as she spoke.

"It was so annoying answering all of her bloody questions," Harry grumbled around a simple sandwich. Ron huffed from his place on the other side of the table, "Problem Ronald?" Harry asked, looking very miffed at his best friend.

Ron had at least enough sense to stay silent and instead just walk away, leaving the four of us alone. Harry just shrugged his shoulders and returned to his food, but I could tell he was hurt by the way Ron was acting. Fleur watched the redhead leave, shaking her head at the way the boy was acting while her carbon copy seemed to be ignoring what happened, more focused on me than anything else.

While the other two were distracted the younger girl held out her hand, "Hi, my names Gabrielle," The girl said with a strong French accent, "I'm Fleur's little sister," The girl seemed to be super proud of that fact as she puffed up her chest confidently.

I took the girls hand, surprised at the formal introduction as she was so young, "I'm Hermione," I said with a smile.

"You're very pretty," The young girl said causing me to blush at the compliment, I noticed a grin appear on the girls face as she opened her mouth to speak again, "Even my sister thinks so."

Fleur shrieked from her spot as she slapped her hand over her sisters' mouth with maybe a bit much force as she shushed the giggling girl. In the end, I began laughing as well while a mortified Fleur sat sulking a little after being laughed at.

As I calmed down and looked at the slightly crestfallen girl, I decided to help her out a little, "I think your sister is quite pretty herself," I leaned over Fleur and whispered to Gabrielle, knowing full well the older girl could hear me, "She's much prettier than me anyway."

Gabrielle grinned again, and I knew that she was going to say something else that her sister didn't like, "My sister would completely disagree with you."

"Gabi, stop it~" Gabrielle just laughed at her sisters pleading as I leaned back and smiled apologetically at the older girl.

The rest of lunch seemed to go by in a flash as the four of us chatted about various things including, much to Harry's chagrin, Ron and the upcoming Tournament. Harry ended up leaving halfway early, not specifying what he was going to do and leaving Fleur, Gabrielle and myself at the table. We didn't pay it any mind while we continued our conversation until classes started again, forcing us to go, but not before we made plans to talk at dinner as well.

I wasn't sure why but for some reason I had found myself getting closer with the girl much quicker than I had with anyone else, after thinking on why that was, I decided to just chalk it up to the fact that the older girl was quite easy to talk to. As we parted ways, I was quickly approached by the youngest of the Weasley clan.

"Hey, Hermione," Ginny spoke chirpily from beside me.

"Good afternoon, Ginny, how have you been today?" I asked kindly.

"Very good," the redhead replied with a smile before she went quiet for a few moments, "Also… How's Harry doing?" Ginny asked worriedly.

I put an arm around the younger girl, I knew full well that she had had a crush on Harry for a long time now, but she was far too shy to say anything, "He'll be fine Ginny, Fleur, the Beauxbatons Champion is going to help him through the Tournament," I explained.

Ginny nodded along, frowning a little at the revelation, although she didn't say anything, I knew that it was because she was jealous, thinking that the older girl was going to steal her crush. I didn't say anything to the girl, no matter how badly I would have liked to tell her just to say something. It was the most annoying thing about knowing when people had crushes on other people; nothing was going to happen if they didn't say anything. But if they did and got rejected anyway at least, they'd have their answer and could try to move on.

I shrugged my shoulders as I came to the door for my next class, "Well, this is me. I'll see you next time, Ginny." I said with a little wave as the girl continued walking down the corridor. She waved back at me before disappearing into the throng of students, leaving me to my thoughts once again.