A.N Just an edit, I called Luna a Hufflepuff like a moron ;P

Fleur

I was sitting at the Gryffindor table with Hermione eating lunch, Gabrielle had gone off with a small group of other students that she had befriended since coming here after I had successfully calmed her down. We sat in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company while we ate a late breakfast when a slightly annoyed looking redhead approached us.

"Hermione, where were you yesterday?" Ron asked roughly.

I narrowed my eyes at the boy but kept quiet and waited for Hermione to respond, "I was with Fleur, I don't know if you noticed, but she got burned pretty badly by the Dragon yesterday."

"What about Harry? He's your best friend, yet you ignored his fight and celebration, to spend time with Fleur."

"Ron, I just fell asleep. And what about you? You've barely spoken two words to Harry in the last month, and now that he's made it through the first task, your back to being his friend?"

Ron looked down ashamedly for a moment but quickly recovered his glare, "Just remember to congratulate him," He grumbled before stalking off.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I can't believe him," She growled as she turned back to me.

"Just ignore him, it isn't worth getting angry about on such a lovely day," I said with a small smile as I gazed into Hermione's eyes. Hermione smiled back at me and quickly seemed to let it go as she rubbed at her neck, "Is your neck still giving you trouble?"

Hermione nodded, "I really shouldn't have slept on that chair, but what's done is done," Hermione said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey could have fixed it, though."

Hermione shrugged again, "Yeah, but I was hungry, and she seemed to have her hands full anyway."

"Hey Fleur, Hermione," Harry called out as he walked briskly towards us flanked by Ron and Neville.

"Good morning Harry, I heard you got your Golden Egg, congratulations."

"Yeah, Harry, good work," Hermione said with a smile, "Sorry I wasn't there last night. I was just checking on Fleur."

"… Why'd you do it, Fleur?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence.

"Do what? What are you talking about?"

Harry narrowed his eyes at me, "You know what I'm talking about. Why did you choose the Horntail?"

Hermione gasped from her spot opposite me, "You did what?"

I looked between the two Hogwarts students, unsure of how to answer the question, "I decided to help you, Harry, that's all."

"What do you mean, that's all!?" Harry's shout echoed throughout the Great Hall, gathering the attention of the rest of the students and few Professor's that were in the room.

"Look, it's not a big deal, I handled it. I wasn't about to let a kid face off against the most ferocious Dragon in the Trial."

"You could have died, what would you have done then?" Harry asked as Hermione gasped from her seat. I looked over to the brunette and felt my heart clench at the sight of the tears brimming in her eyes.

"I would've escaped," I spoke seriously as I leveled my eyes back on the angry boy I had protected, "I am quite knowledgeable in the art of Wizardry, Harry. Do not forget that my name was drawn from the Goblet of Fire, that means I am the best of the best that Beauxbatons academy has to offer. While we still have no idea how your name was drawn, let alone placed into the Goblet. The fact of the matter is that I was, and am still, much better equipped to handle the Horntail then you."

Harry shook his head, angrily, "My name was chosen by the Goblet as well, that means something." Harry growled as his hormones began to control his thought process.

"Harry just calm down," Hermione spoke up, "Fleur was just helping you."

"I don't need her help," The boy snapped as his hand began to twitch.

I sighed in frustration as I stood up, "I am sorry you cannot see things from my point of view, Harry, but I chose to do what was right and quite possibly saved your life, even if you can't see it yourself…" I looked to Hermione pointedly, hoping she got the message that I wanted her to follow after me so we could be alone again, but she seemed to be far too distracted by Harry to notice.

"I will take my leave as not to escalate things any further and… I hope to see you again soon, Hermione." I took my leave as soon as I was finished talking, and over-heard Hermione start to admonish Harry for the way he was acting. The act left me feeling a little better about everything, but I did wonder how a day that had started so well could have so quickly come crashing down.

I wandered through Hogwarts Halls aimlessly as I allowed my mind to wander, an image of a sleeping Hermione came to my mind as I remembered what had transpired the night before. I raised a hand to my lips and pressed my fingers into the soft flesh, "I shouldn't have done that," I chastised myself.

"Shouldn't have done what?" I jumped as a young blond seemed to appear out of thin air beside me.

Wha- It's nothing. Who are you?" I asked.

"Luna, but a lot of people call me Looney Luna when they think I can't hear them," The blond said in an airy, seemingly uncaring voice.

"Oh, that's terrible. I'm Fleur. It's good to meet you."

The blonde laughed softly, "Of course I know who you are. Besides, we've already met once before." I raised a brow at the girl's statement. When had we met before? I asked myself, I racked my brain but was unable to find an answer. I turned to ask the Ravenclaw but quickly decided not too as to not appear rude and instead continued walking beside the girl. We settled into a rather uncomfortable silence as we walked, at least, it was uncomfortable for me, I'm sure Luna wasn't affected at all if her smile was anything to go by.

It wasn't long before we parted ways with a curt 'Bye' to one another, as I turned a corner I looked back down the corridor that Luna had disappeared down, I kind of get why people call her Looney, I chuckled softly to myself, "But she seems sweet."

"Who does?" I jumped once again as a head a bushy brunette hair appeared before me.

"Hermione!" I took a deep breath to calm myself while Hermione giggled cutely before me, "Why does everyone keep sneaking up on me."

"Who seems sweet?" Hermione asked a little heatedly.

I was taken aback by her tone and couldn't help but wonder if she was feeling jealous, "It was Luna, a young Hufflepuff girl." Hermione frowned and looked down at her feet as she mumbled something under her breath, "What was that?" I asked with a raised brow, "I couldn't hear you."

Hermione quickly recovered her smile and looked back into my eyes, yet I could tell something was a little off, "It's nothing, I came after you so I could talk to you… About yesterday."

My heart leaped into my throat as I remembered kissing Hermione once again, could she have woken up during the kiss, maybe she was just acting fine earlier, and now she was going to let me have it. My mind continued to swirl with dark thoughts of Hermione yelling at me, calling me disgusting or a pervert or some other word that could tear me up inside.

Hermione sniffed, and I was brought out of my swirling mind to the sight of tears rolling down Hermione's pink cheeks. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around Hermione's torso and pulled her body into mine. I pulled her as close as I could, trying desperately to comfort the younger girl as she suddenly began to cry in earnest. Her shoulders shaking as her sobs, muffled in my chest, shook me to my core.

"Everything's okay," I whispered over and over again like a mantra hoping that my words would somehow calm the distraught girl down.

We were stood in the same position for a while; various students passed by, keeping a respectful distance as they whispered amongst themselves about many theories about what might have been going on.

As Hermione slowly calmed down, I reluctantly pulled away so I could look her in the eyes, "Should we go somewhere else? It's a little… Public here." I said as I nodded towards a small group of Slytherins that stood sneering in our direction.

Hermione nodded, and we moved off wordlessly, I walked Hermione out of the Castle as she refused to let go of me, and led her to the large carriage that I was currently living in. Very few of my fellow Beauxbatons' students were in the carriage and the few that were new enough to keep quiet and leave Hermione and me alone.

I sat down on my bed, pulling Hermione with me, we sat side-by-side and, despite the reason we had come to this position, I couldn't help but feel happy that I could be so close to the younger girl.

I ran a comforting hand up and down Hermione's arm as I pulled her close, "Are you ready to talk?"

Hermione nodded as she looked at me, "It's just, Harry told me what Hagrid had told him… And what Madame Maxime undoubtedly told you about the Horntail." Hermione clenched her fists, "And when Harry said that you could have died, I just… I don't know."

Hermione's breathing became haggard, and I could tell she was on the verge of crying once again; I quickly shushed her, retightening my hold around the brunette's abdomen. "Don't worry about that. I had it handled."

Hermione pulled away from me and stared at me with narrowed eyes, "I watched as that fire drew closer to you and watched you practically get carried out of the Arena, how can you say you had a handle on it… You almost Died!"

"Hermione I-"

"Don't!" Hermione snapped, she rose to her feet and glared at me, "You were seconds away from death, and you know it. Please…" Her face softened, and she looked upset as she continued, "Just stop saying that it was nothing. Stop saying that you had it handled and accept the fact that you almost didn't."

I looked down into my lap and unclenched my fists that I hadn't realized I had clenched and breathed out a defeated sigh, "You are right. Hermione," I grabbed the brunette's hands and pulled her down into my lap, Hermione tensed but made no move to leave. I rested my head on her shoulder as I continued to speak, "I was scared… Terrified, all I could think about was my family… My friends, I did not think I would make it out alive. I thought of all the things I still needed to do, the things I… Still needed to say…" I trailed off as my cheeks grew warm, knowing that I was treading a very fine line.

We sat in silence for a few moments until Hermione finally moved off of my lap and back onto the bed beside me, I missed the warmth but didn't say anything or make a noise of any kind as I didn't want to overstep any more than I already had. The warmth wasn't gone for long, however, as Hermione took my hand into her lap and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Well, you still have time, a lot of time, just… Promise me that you'll be more careful in the following tasks I… Don't want to lose you."

My heart thumped at Hermione's choice of words, and I couldn't help but think she had chosen those words for a reason; she was as smart as they come after all.

"Hermione I…" I started hesitantly, but before I could say anything more, the door to my room burst open and Gabrielle came barging in. Hermione jumped at the sudden intrusion and quickly let go of my hand as Gabrielle wrapped her arms around the Gryffindor.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as she tentatively wrapped her arms around Gabrielle.

"I heard you were crying," Gabi said sadly, "I always feel better with a hug, so I came to give you one."

Hermione chuckled softly, "Well, thank you, Gabrielle, I do feel much better," Gabrielle pulled away and grinned happily at both Hermione and myself. "Well… I should go, I need to… Study." Hermione said as her cheeks grew pink.

"Aww, but I just got here," Gabrielle whined as she jumped onto Hermione's lap and wrapped her arms around the brunette's neck once again.

"Come on, Gabi, Hermione's a busy girl," I said sadly, not wanting Hermione to go.

"Fine… But we'll be sitting together at dinner tonight," Gabrielle all but demanded of the Gryffindor, causing Hermione to laugh once again.

"Okay, I'll see you later tonight then," Hermione said as she ruffled Gabrielle's hair. "I'll see you there, Fleur."

I smiled, "Yeah, I can't wait," Hermione grinned before leaving the room, "I really can't," I said quietly with a sigh as Hermione's footfalls grew distant.

Gabi grabbed my hand, "Is Hermione really okay?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, she is, we had a good talk about some things."

Gabrielle grew ecstatic as she jumped up and down beside me, "Does this mean you?"

I shook my head with a sad smile, "We weren't talking about that."

Hermione

I stood outside the large blue carriage, my heart pounding, my breathing rapid, and my cheeks flushing with heat. Why did I say it like that? I know I would be upset if Fleur had died during the Trial, but the way I said it…

My eyes widened as I realized that the emotion that had been growing within me over the last few months was no longer ignorable, "I'm in love with her," I whispered into the wind. I started on my way back towards the Castle, my thoughts swirling as I practically stumbled through the halls and up to Gryffindor tower.

"There you are, Hermione," Ginny's voice brought me slightly out of my daze, "Where have you been."

"I love her," I spoke quietly.

"WHAT!?" Ginny's scream brought me entirely out of my daze, and by the look on her face, I was sure she had heard me. I glanced around the Common Room and noticed we had garnered quite a lot of attention from the other Gryffindor's around us.

"Just. Come with me, Ginny?" I pleaded, hoping the girl followed me without protest and without any more screams of surprise. Thankfully she followed behind me quickly and quietly, and before long, we were sitting across from each other in my shared room.

"Now, did I hear you correctly back there?" Ginny asked, not wasting any more time.

I hesitated for a long moment, unable to look the girl in the eye out of fear, "You did," My voice was barely above a whisper, but I was sure Ginny had heard me anyway.

I held my breath as silence permeated the room. I risked a glance at the silent redhead who was sitting at my desk. Much to my surprise, she had an expectant, impatient look on her face, "Don't leave me in suspense, who is it?" Ginny asked excitedly.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, "You mean you're okay with this?" I asked hesitantly, worried that by simply asking the question, it would somehow send Ginny into a tirade of abuse.

"Okay with what? You liking another girl?"

"Yeah," I said with a slight nod.

Ginny closed her eyes as she rubbed her forehead, "That's right, you're a muggle-born. I keep forgetting that muggles aren't as accepting. But yes, believe me, I am definitely okay with you being gay, Hermione."

I released a sigh of relief as I relaxed into a more comfortable sitting position, "Thank god, I was so worried that you would be against it… After the first time you asked me about Fleur and Harry, and you said all those things about Harry and Fleur being together, it felt like you were telling me that Fleur and I couldn't be together… Because we're both girls."

Ginny moved over to sit next to me on my bed and put her arm around my shoulders comfortingly, "I'm not, and I dare say you'd be hard-pressed to find a Witch or Wizard that was outright against it. And… I'm sorry about that but, I wasn't just going to assume that you were gay." I smiled appreciatively at the younger girl who, very quickly, jumped away with a more mischievous smile, "Now, no more stalling, who is it?"

I was silent for a long moment, wrenching my hands in my lap nervously, still worried that somehow, my mentioning her name would break whatever spell had forced Ginny to be so accepting. I closed my eyes tightly, fighting against my nerves and butterflies currently nesting in the pit of my stomach.

"It's Fleur," I spoke so quietly I was sure Ginny hadn't heard me yet I kept quiet, only taking a quick glance in her direction after she had been silent for quite some time. She continued to stare at me with an expectant look in her face.

"Well?" Ginny prompted.

"It's Fleur," I spoke louder, and by the gasp that emanated from the girl's mouth, I resolved she must have heard me this time.

"Really?" She asked with a perplexed look on her face.

I frowned a little, "Is that bad?" I asked, miffed by the redhead's reaction.

"No," Ginny said quickly with a reassuring smile, "Not at all, I just. I'm wondering how I didn't notice."

"Well, I was trying to ignore it for quite some time," I admitted, "I may have been slightly opposed to the idea to begin with, although I'm not really sure why. Now that I've said it out loud, I feel, somehow better. It's a strange kind of feeling, feeling better when you didn't actually realize you were feeling bad to begin with."

"So… Fleur, huh." Ginny spoke with a suggestive lilt in her voice, "She is quite the beauty." My face grew hot as I imagined Fleur, "And you clearly think so too," Ginny said with a giggle.

"Well," I hesitated for a long moment, "She is," I said with a small smile as I fell back on my bed, laying down happily as I thought about Fleur and basked in Ginny's acceptance. Ginny was quick to jump onto me, straddling my waist as she pushed down on my shoulders. I laughed a little at the younger girls' antics, "What are you doing, Gin?"

Before the redhead could answer, however, the door to my room opened, and a tall brunette girl walked in with a smile on her face, she gasped when she saw the compromising position Ginny and I were laying in.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," the brunette said as she looked around nervously, a blush slowly appearing on her cheeks.

"Oh, don't worry, Fay, you're not interrupting anything," I said as I pushed Ginny away from me. "Ginny and I were just messing around."

"Okay then… Harry's looking for you by the way. He's in the Common Room waiting for me to check if you were up here."

"Okay, thanks Fay," I smiled appreciatively at the other girl who, kind of awkwardly, smiled back at me before heading deeper into our room.

Ginny left with me, glancing back into my room, worriedly, "What's wrong, Gin?"

"It's nothing," The redhead sputtered, "I'll leave you to Harry."

Ginny hurried off by herself, and I wondered just what was going through her head, I quickly put the thought to one side, instead deciding to focus on Harry. I reached the Common Room rather soon after Ginny had hurried off and looked around, searching Harry out. I found him standing, leaning against the far wall with Ron standing in front of him.

I quickly joined the two of them, a stern look quickly forming on my face as I remembered our earlier interaction.

"What do you want?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too harsh, but by the look on Ron's face, I did not succeed.

"What's with the tone?" Ron asked angrily.

I rolled my eyes at the boy, "Just tell me what's going on, Harry."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly, "I need to apologize." I raised a brow expectantly as I waited for him to continue, "I just feel so… Inferior in this whole Tournament, and it's been weighing on me."

I felt sympathy for my friend but was still annoyed that he had acted so callously towards Fleur, "Then go apologize," I stated flatly, "What do you need me for?"

Harry was silent for a long moment as he stared at me with a confused look, "I'm apologizing to you?" Harry asked.

I started to glare at the brunette, "Are you daft?" I asked as I grew more frustrated with the two boys in front of me, "I'm not the one that needs an apology."

Harry looked down at his shoes, "Well… Of course, I know that. It's just…"

"Just what?" I pushed harder, but Harry stood silently, answering with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Pride," I answered for him, before turning and leaving the two alone, grumbling frustratedly to myself as I left the Gryffindor Common Room.