"Come into ze bedroom!" Fleur told her as pulled Hermione to the stairs, their hands locked in a firm grip.

Hermione's eyes widened and stumbled over her feet. Fleur turned around to catch her, but her grip on Hermione's hand sent her tumbling after the brunette. Hermione's mind went into overdrive, calculating the chances of Fleur getting hurt and they did not look good for the blonde witch. "No!" she yelled and suddenly, they were landing on a bed.

Fleur blinked, shocked as she looked around. One moment, she was about to tumble down stairs, the next she was in her bedroom, underneath Hermione. Hermione sat up, straddling the French woman and began checking her over, "I'm so sorry Fleur, are you hurt? Did I squash you? Did you hit your head?!"

Fleur laughed and grabbed the hands that were fussing over her, "Non 'ermione, I am fine. Thank you."

Hermione smiled and felt her heart melt at the way Fleur looked at her. She rolled off of Fleur as casually as possible and laid next to her. Fleur's eyes followed her and she shook her head. Hermione's heart beat in double-time: She could almost fool herself into thinking they were together.

Speaking of which…

"Fleur, you said Bill is gay." Hermione said hesitantly, "That means you are…free and on the market?"

Fleur chuckled, "Yes. This is true. Interested?"

Hermione's eyes widened.

Say yes. Say yes. Say yes.

"N-no!"

God dammit!

Fleur gave a tight smile and got out of the bed, "Right, well I am going to pack."

Hermione literally cursed herself for wimping out. Her eye twitched as she accidently shot her butt with a weak stinging hex. Shaking her head, Hermione moved off the bed and asked, "Do you need help?"

Fleur shook her head and set about packing silently, her back to Hermione. Hermione silently sighed, saddened that she had upset the beautiful blonde with her cowardice, but when the woman bent over, all of her blood rushed south and she immediately began reciting the introduction to Hogwarts: A History.

"All done!" Fleur said after several agonizing minutes. At one point while Fleur was reaching for something, revealing the curve of lower back, Hermione nearly passed out. Fleur turned to her and smiled, "And not a single incident. Per'aps we 'ave exhausted your magic."

Not bloody likely.

"Perhaps. I think I've enough to apparate us home though." Hermione said as she stood and extended her hand to Fleur. She was taken by surprise when, instead of grabbing her hand, Fleur stepped into her personal space and put her hand on the space between Hermione's neck and shoulder.

Hermione's gasped softly and forced herself to wrap an arm around Fleur's waist. The blonde smirked at her, "Take me 'ome, 'ermione." Hermione nodded and apparated them, her mind half on the task and half on the lips inches from her own. She gave a mental sigh of relief that they hadn't ended up somewhere strange, and smiled at the blonde. Fleur smiled back and squeezed Hermione's shoulder before turning to the apartment.

Hermione blushed as the woman released a fury of swear words and turned back to her, "You should be ashamed of this, 'Ermione Granger! 'Ow do you live in zese conditions? 'ow are you not infested!"

Hermione rubbed the back of her neck and shrugged, "Magic?"

Fleur narrowed her eyes and gripped the woman's ear, pulling her towards the dining room littered with take-out boxes, "Since you wish to dirty ze 'ouse with muggle take out, you will clean it ze muggle way."

Just then an owl started pecking at the window. Hermione held out her hand and the window opened, allowing the bird to enter and hand her the letter.

Saved by death eaters.

"Sorry, Fleur, but duty calls."

Fleur huffed and kissed her cheek, "Go. Don't worry. I will leave somezing for you to clean and some dinner in the refrigerator. Be careful out zere."

Hermione's eyes widened, surprised by the kiss. "A-ah o-okay. Um...I'm just…owl…go…gonna, bye!" She said and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind her. There was no way she was going to get Fleur to go out with her at this rate. She sighed and stared at the door forlornly. Shaking her head, she walked down the hall and headed towards Wizarding London.

"Hermione we've got a lead!" Said Ron. He was practically jumping up and down, "Looks like three unmarked death eaters are meeting here. One of whom is Lechamp! If we can catch him, I'm sure the unspeakables can gather info on the remaining five."

Harry sighed, "But it's not that easy." He waved his wand and a 3D map appeared, "Dark magic garden here, mercenaries here, some winged beast there and wizards with time turners on the roof."

Hermione's eyes widened, "What?! How?!"

Harry shrugged, "France is more lenient with turners. The ministry used to be until a mad man burned a large majority of them. Now they're kept here in case of emergency."

Hermione sighed, "How long do we have?"

Ron shrugged, "Lashard is afraid and certain that his new headquarters is impenetrable, so he won't be leaving anytime soon."

Hermione nodded, "Good. I get dibs on him. I want to see his face when we break through his 'impenetrable' walls."

Harry chuckled and fiddled with his glasses, "You've a plan then?"

"Not yet. But give me a few days."

Harry nodded and the three of them finished up with paperwork and began working on a plan. Once the day was over, they went out. While waiting for their drinks, Hermione told them about her mishaps with Fleur, and even told Ron about Bill. Years ago, she wouldn't have spoken a word, not wanting to face the exploding redhead, but years as an auror had calmed him down. Well, that and the end of puberty.

"Whoa…I always knew he was a bit of a dandy…." Ron said and the table erupted in laughter just as their drinks arrived.

"Plus," he continued after drinking half of his drink, "they never dueled."

Hermione frowned, "What?"

Ron nodded, "Well according to Veela lore, the chosen mate of a Veela must win in a magical duel against her. Y'know. Proving your strength an all"

Hermione frowned, "Ron, how do you know this?"

He shrugged, "That case with the kid and his mother. She was a creature expert and we got to talking about Bill and Fleur while I was on duty."

Hermione hummed, filing away the thought and nodded. The three of them laughed and joked for a few hours, and once Hermione was fairly comfortable, she delivered her news.

"Harry...it turns out we have two things in common."

He frowned, "Whut?"

Hermione ticked off a finger, "We're both adopted..."

Ron and Harry's eyes widened and Harry paled, "Don't tell me..."

She nodded, "And we've both been orphaned by Voldemort."

Harry and Ron listened intently as Hermione told them about the events of the previous day, and Harry smiled, "I'm glad you can speak with your parents, Hermione. Merlin knows I would've given anything…" he trailed off and the three of them drank in silence. At least until Ron choked on his drink and the mood lightened immediately.

"Fleur?" Hermione called as she stepped into the apartment. She turned on the light and whistled at the clean floors. "Nice."

"Merci." Fleur said from the other bedroom and Hermione's eyes widened at the sight of Fleur in nothing but a lacy bra and panty set. "I 'ad imagined you would be tired after work, but it seems I should 'ave made good on my word and left something for you to clean."

Hermione swallowed and opened her mouth to speak, but there were no words. Fleur smirked and started walking towards Hermione. "Are you okay?"

Hermione shook her head, "I um…you…"

It was too much. Fleur looked ready for the taking and Hermione could feel her heart beating faster with every breath. She imagined dragging the French woman to her bedroom and having her way with her. The explicit images made her feel like she was going to explode. Hermione was not unaccustomed to seeing gorgeous women in her apartment, but none of them had every made her feel so...ravenous. Even her magic was reacting, and that made Hermione extremely nervous.

"I can't stay!" She blurted out, turned on the spot and apparated to her parent's home.

She paced in front of the portraits, trying and failing to clear the images from her mind.

"Hermione." Her mother called, but her mind was strictly on Fleur's tantalizing body and all of the things she wanted to do to make the blonde scream. She never noticed the air crackling around her or the entire house shaking.

Suddenly, cold water was thrown in her face and she fell backwards spluttering.

"Thank you Remy." She heard her father say. She looked up angrily, "What was that for?"

Alice answered, "Sweetheart, if you get to worked up, your magic kind of…explodes outwardly. You would have blown this house to smithereens."

Derek snorted, "Like my mothers."

Alice kicked him, "You have to be careful. The only reason the furniture and things weren't in the air is because we bolted them to the ground. I occasionally got a little too emotional about something and – "

Derek outright laughed, "Occasionally?"

Alice glared and he cleared his throat, "What set you off?"

Hermione blushed, "Ah…"

Alice smiled, "That young woman you were telling us about? What was her name…ah flower?"

Hermione chuckled, "Fleur. And yeah…she was…just standing there looking all…" Hermione made wild gestures with her hands and sighed, "I had to leave."

Alice nodded, "I think there were a few times your father had decided to tease me for – "

Derek slapped a hand over her mouth and gestured to Hermione's wide fearful eyes. "Darling," He said to Alice, "let's not traumatize our daughter quite yet."

Hermione blinked, hoping to force back any images that might pop up of her parents doing…things. They may have been practically strangers, but she did not need a play by play of how she was conceived.

Hermione groaned, "Thanks for the save."

Derek laughed, "No problem. You would not believe how much practice I've had. Your mother is nothing short of a blabbermouth."

Alice glared and then rolled her eyes, nodding in agreement. Hermione laughed, "So, what should I do when that happens again?"

Derek removed his hand and Alice smiled, "Remy is always available to you. He is yours. The ice cold water will always do the trick, but it is up to you to find out different ways to distract yourself."

Hermione nodded, taking in the information, and thanked her mother before leaving.

Sat at the dinner table, Fleur jumped at the pop of Hermione apparating into the kitchen. She walked over to Hermione, this time fully dressed, "I am sorry, 'Ermione. I did not think you would mind. I should 'ave asked first, I apologize if I offended you."

Hermione's eyes widened and she raised her hands, "No, no Fleur. I like it!" Her eyes widened, "NO! I mean I didn't…you didn't offend me. It's fine. You can walk around naked all you want." Hermione's face became beet red and she turned to the refrigerator, not wanting to see the smirk on Fleur's face. "So, leftovers?" she asked.

Fleur smirked and nodded, "Oui, at ze bottom, ma petite lionne."

Hermione groaned at the almost predatory sound of Fleur's voice.