Don't worry! Hermione hasn't given up!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe and am not making any money off this fic.

At long last, the work week was over and Fleur headed home to freshen up before her dinner with Hermione. Things at Shell Cottage had been tense since their argument, and unlike before, Fleur didn't feel the need to mend the fence since she had filed the paperwork earlier that morning that will effectively blast the "fence" to smithereens.

As she made her way in the house, she wordlessly passed Bill in the living room and headed up to get changed. She grabbed her purse and wand and went back downstairs, hoping to avoid any conversation with her soon-to-be ex-husband. However, luck was not on her side as she heard him ask where she was headed. "I'm on my way to meet Hermione for dinner. By the way, I got the divorce papers filed this morning. Please sign them as soon as you receive them from the Ministry. I would like to wrap everything up as quickly and painlessly as possible."

Bill sat up further, revealing both that he had been heavily drinking and that the divorce papers had already been served and were currently strewn across the floor. "Oh I got them. Don't think I'll be signing them though. Didn't you see the newspaper this morning? Ron got in! He'll be minister and he'll pass that bloody law and I need you to stay here. Why the bloody hell are you going off to meet Hermione anyways? You know how I feel about that heartbreaking wench."

This was exactly the conversation Fleur did not want to have right now. Setting her purse on the coffee table, she started scooping up the divorce papers and organizing them into a neat stack. "William, I sympathize with your position, of course, but I cannot stay here. I have stayed here for your sake for years and I cannot willingly stay and allow myself to be oppressed in any way. My very soul demands freedom and after so long, I cannot deny it. I must move on and live my own life. We started off as the very best of friends and I so hoped our friendship wouldn't be soured by this arrangement. We were doing fine until recently. Please do not allow this to become a wedge between us."

Bill flopped down on the couch at the mention of Fleur's yearning for freedom. "Have I been so bad for you that you feel you're caged? Would it be so awful to stay a couple more years? Do you truly have no desire at all to have children? I can provide for you! I can support you in whatever way you want to still do with your life. We can make it work together. Please don't abandon me here like this. Don't do this to me."

"Bill, I cannot. You know this! One of the reasons we worked so well is that you understood why I stayed in this country, what kept me here and what would make me feel trapped. I have been very unhappy here and even now you are trying to isolate me from one of the only people who makes it bearable. I cannot keep living like this. I cannot keep solving your problems for you. I don't believe you want to be married to me any more than I do. Please, I implore you, to take control of your life. Talk to Ron or find a good partner you can raise a family with. Sign the papers and let us both move forward with our lives." Fleur tried to hand the stack of papers to Bill but he wouldn't take them. Letting out a gentle sigh, she shrunk down the papers and shoved them into her purse. "Anyways, I'm going to dinner. Please make sure to drink a glass of water before you pass out. Goodbye, Bill."

Satisfied with Bill's muffled response, she apparated out and made her way to the restaurant. Looking around, she noticed Hermione was already there and made her way over to the table and immediately engulfed the brunette in a warm hug. "Hermione, I am so happy to see you. You cannot imagine how much I have missed you. Please forgive me for allowing this distance between us!" Fleur felt Hermione squeeze her tighter as she reassured Fleur that she understood and did forgive her. As they separated and sat down, Hermione spoke up. "I already ordered your favorite ramen bowl because I'm starving. I hope that's alright." They sat and caught up on small talk while waiting for their food to arrive. Hermione first heard of Ron's marriage through the Daily Prophet and asked for more information, and Fleur quickly filled her in. It made sense to Hermione now that Ron would support taxes encouraging marriage and children. This conversation lead to a natural segue into the article that morning announcing Ron as the Minister-Elect.

"Hermione, I have to ask. Do you truly accept the changes Ronald is proposing? Enough that you would write the new law? Wouldn't you be one of the most impacted people or do you have a plan to get married and have children?"

Hermione hunched over and put her face in her hands with a frustrated groan. "I should've known you'd recognize that. To answer your unasked question, yes I did write some of that, but not intentionally. And no, neither Harry nor I support it. We've tried talking to people and writing letters without coming out against Ron, but nothing worked."

"How did that even happen? How do you unwittingly write a policy proposal?"

Hermione had to let out a small chuckle. "I guess if anyone can, it's me. I feel responsible for everything. My whole life, I've just tried to help and do the right thing, but I just keep making things worse. It's my fault Ron came up with the idea, and even more my fault Thromball dropped out of the race."

"What? Hermione! You can't take credit for single-handedly winning or losing the race."

"Well, when you put it like that, of course not. But I'm the one who tried to teach Ron about learning from the muggle government, and I'm the one who wrote Thromball and overwhelmed him so much he dropped out. I tried so hard to organize everything in a way to give him good talking points and different policy stances to present, but I scared him off. I always do that! I try so hard and I always come on too strong and do more damage than good. How can I look myself in the mirror knowing what I've done?"

"Hermione, darling, what are you talking about? You are brilliant and passionate. Thromball just ended up not being a strong enough person to stand against any competition. That is not on you. Why do you think you always make things worse?"

Hermione had been slowly eating but put her spoon down and looked down at the table. "You probably don't remember much about me from Hogwarts, but I found out about house elves at the beginning of fourth year. I tried to organize a group to free house elves and the only people who joined were Harry and Ron, and not because they wanted to. I spent the whole year learning how to knit, terribly might I add, so I could leave clothes out for the elves so they could be free. At the end of the year, I learned that Dobby, the one buried at Shell Cottage, was cleaning our common room and dorms the whole year himself because none of the other elves would help. Because of me. I thought I knew what was best and came on too strong and made it worse."

Fleur reached across the table and grabbed Hermione's hand. "The past is in the past. You have learned to get information from all sides before taking action on an issue and I know from reading your 'concerned citizen' letters that you are trying to take a balanced approach. You would not be the Hermione Granger I know and love without making sure to do all you can when you feel there is a serious injustice."

"Thanks Fleur. I really appreciate that. It's just, since that article came out this morning, I haven't been able to think about anything else except how much I've mucked it up." Fleur squeezed Hermione's hand again to silently challenge Hermione's self-doubt. "Harry and I didn't want to come out against Ron without trying more indirect paths first, but we thought we had a lot more time, you know? And at least a chance of another candidate winning. I suppose the only thing for it is to come out with a strong statement vehemently opposing the new law and fighting tooth and nail to make sure it doesn't pass."

"And what will you do if it does pass? Will you continue to fight against it? Will you stay here and subject yourself to it?"

"Well, I actually got to thinking after I got your letter. Am I wrong in deducing you are divorcing Bill and returning to France? Or is he going with you?"

"Oh oui, I am divorcing him. It is simply time for me to return to my home. I filed for divorce just this morning and am staying just long enough to get everything wrapped up. I refuse to subject myself to this insidious oppression. Bill did not appreciate me referring to his brother as a tyrant." Fleur laughed a little as she saw Hermione's eyebrows shoot up in surprise that Fleur would say that to Bill. "But back to you! What have you been thinking of then?"

"Oh, well you know, Harry and I discussed um… France actually. I speak French from growing up visiting with my parents and I currently don't have anything really tying me here. My parents will be supportive of whatever I choose and we have some family on my mom's side. The problem I'm working on is how to get a visa. I don't have a job or school lined up. I thought I would maybe go into medicine, maybe combine the best of the muggle and magical worlds, but I just think I have so many things I feel more passionately about that I may just be mediocre at medicine and not really live up to my potential. So now I'm kind of back to the drawing board of what to do with my life and how the logistics would work of both staying here and going abroad. Harry of course could just accept a position as an auror with the French ministry and be done with it."

"I hate to interrupt, but I must ask. Is there something between you and Harry?" Fleur immediately regretted her question when she got a face full of the green tea Hermione had been sipping and immediately started choking on. "Well, I suppose that answers that. It's just that you mentioned Harry and yourself throughout this whole conversation as if the two of you were in everything together. I just assumed perhaps it's because you were actually together."

When she finished wiping off her face and casting a discrete scourgify, Hermione looked back to Fleur. "No, we definitely have not ever been nor will we ever be together. We just have come so far together and we're family. I mean we could make separate decisions, and may still, but it just feels like our lives will have more meaning if we're doing this all together. Neither of us are prepared in any way to be parents. We're still struggling with the aftermath of the war including PTSD and lingering health problems from the stress and um… captivity. It just wouldn't be safe for tiny humans to be dependent on either of us. And really, who would either of us marry? Not Ron or each other, and everyone else just feels like hero worship or gold digging. It's exceptionally difficult to find a decent date, and even more so a marriage partner."

At this point both witches had finished their meal and, by silent agreement, stood up to pay for their food and make their way out. Once they were outside and strolling through the streets of London, Fleur linked her arm with Hermione's and brought their prior conversation back up. "Well I think you would make a lovely wife to anyone so lucky. I suppose you haven't considered getting a marriage visa for France. As far as I remember, the path to citizenship is 4 years of marriage, with at least 3 of them living within France. You could live and study in France for those 4 years and then renounce your British citizenship."

Hermione snorted in disbelief at Fleur's argument. "And who exactly would I marry? That's still a problem. I would love to spend the next 4 years studying, of course. I already have masteries in Transfiguration and Charms. I feel like 4 more years of studying will grant me an excessive number of masteries. I would love to get one in potions though. That is a field that I do think I have uncommon skill in. I would be so interested in spell and potion creation, research and interdisciplinary advances. Can you imagine what advances could be made?"

"I truly believe you will make a world of difference, mon chérie. What is it about potions that interests you so? Would that be your next mastery then? Would you want to complete the mastery in France?"

At this, Hermione looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I was able to brew Polyjuice potion in my second year…" Holding up a hand to stave off Fleur's interruption, she continued. "That is a very long story I will have to tell you another time. I always achieved perfect results in potions, and I always thought it was despite Professor Snape, not because of him. In my 6th year, he switched over to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Slughorn returned to Hogwarts to teach potions. He had taught for years prior, so it's not that he wasn't a good teacher, but suddenly I wasn't doing nearly as well. Anyways, it was a whole to-do – another long story that I'll tell you another time – but Harry was doing well in potions suddenly because he had a book that had handwritten instructions to improve the potions. It turned out that book was Professor Snape's from when he was a student. At the time that was revealed, he had just killed Professor Dumbledore and fled Hogwarts, and Harry had hidden the book anyways because it, well, anyways it really is a long story. But while we were on the run and I had a lot of time to think, it occurred to me that Professor Snape never told us to use our textbooks and put the instructions up on the board, which was weird because we definitely used our textbooks when he taught Defense. And I realized that Professor Snape's instructions for handling different ingredients were different than what Professor Slughorn taught. During the final battle, we went up to the Room of Requirement to hunt down a horcrux, and I saw the old potions book and since I knew that it was Professor Snape's, I snuck the book in my bag. I never actually told Harry about that since I gave him a really hard time about using it, but the more I study the book, the more I feel like I could make contributions like that and make connections and actually get these changes published. Snape was a dreadful teacher and not necessarily even a good person, but he was a potions genius and it would really be a shame to let his discoveries be lost."

"Well then darling, we will certainly have to make sure you get that mastery. If anyone can do it, it's you. And if you do choose to come to France, I'm sure any of our potions masters will be more than happy to take you under their wing. Of course I hope it's not necessary for you to flee your country, but I believe you will always have a happy home waiting for you in France."