A/N: Couldn't sleep so ANOTHER CHAPTER! You might not like what happens in this one though :/

If you like the story, drop me a review- It really keeps me going hearing whether you like or dislike how the story is going.

Chapter 5.

Hermione flipped through the pages of the green book rapidly, trying to find something – anything—on murtlap.

"What is zat book?" Fleur asked.

"Nothing!" Hermione replied, adjusting the book so that Fleur wouldn't be able to see the cover.

Hermione was perched on the edge of her bed, trying to simultaneously read the book but also keep an eye on the high part-Veela standing before her.

Fleur clambered onto the bed beside her, kneeling on it as she inspected a fluffy grey cushion. She patted it slowly.

"Zis feels good," Fleur hummed.

"Er, great," Hermione commented.

She was juggling a lot at once. Fleur was a truly gorgeous woman and still in her athletic leggings and crop top. Having her clambering all over Hermione's bed and making little noises of pleasure was beyond distracting for the brunette.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, focussing on the text in front of her. She had found a number of interesting new passages, but infuriatingly, nothing on murtlap.

"Merlin," Hermione groaned, casting a glance at Fleur next to her. At least she seemed happy and relaxed. Maybe she could just hide her in the girls' dormitories until the effects had worn off?

Almost on cue, Crookshanks leapt onto the bed with a friendly chirrup.

Fleur's eyes widened and she immediately scooted back on the bed, withdrawing to the area reserved for Hermione's pillows.

"Waow," Crookshanks meowed.

Fleur paled.

"Er, Fleur, are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Get zat critter away from me!" Fleur insisted, holding a pillow up in front of herself like a shield.

"Fleur, Crookshanks is just a cat," Hermione explained calmly, "Granted—I'm fairly sure he's half Kneazle—but a cat all the same. He won't hurt you!"

"I 'ate cats," Fleur whimpered, quivering.

'Oh Merlin,' Hermione thought to herself, 'Just what I need… Her to take a turn into a bad trip…'

"It's fine, Fleur, really," Hermione insisted.

Crookshanks chirruped again, walking over to Fleur curiously. His fluffy tail waved in a harmless little question-mark shape.

Fleur wailed, leaping over the bed and into Hermione's lap. The green Veela book was knocked to the floor as Fleur straddled Hermione, burying her face into Hermione's curls.

"He's harmless," Hermione repeated, running her hand through Fleur's silky blonde hair. The part-Veela was actually trembling. Merlin, the murtlap was doing a number on her.

Crookshanks, bored again, leapt off the bed and scampered out of the dormitory. Hermione kept stroking Fleur's hair soothingly.

She should tell Fleur that Crookshanks was gone now, but she was enjoying having the blonde in her lap a surprising amount. Fleur was so warm and soft. Plus, even though she had just fought a dragon in a dirt arena, she still smelt amazing.

"Mmn, 'Ermione, 'ave I ever told you 'ow good your 'air feels?" Fleur murmured into Hermione's curls, apparently calm again.

"Yes, you, back at the tent just before," Hermione smiled.

"Did I?" Fleur asked, leaning back. She looked so adorably confused.

Fleur leaned back a little far and Hermione put her hands on her hips to hold her in place. She bit her lip. It felt way too good holding Fleur in her lap like this.

She glanced up, blushing slightly. The glazed look in Fleur's eyes gave her a pang of guilt.

'Okay, who do I know who can help when it comes to a problem with magical creatures?' Hermione thought to herself frantically, 'There's no way I can go to Pomfrey or McGonagall… I would be in a world of trouble…"

"Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed, suddenly hit with a brainwave.

"'Agrid?" Fleur asked in her thick French accent.

"Yes, er, we're going to visit Hagrid," Hermione said, "Can you get off me?"

Fleur slid off Hermione, getting to her feet.

"'Agrid is dating Madame Maxime," Fleur giggled.

"Yep," Hermione sighed. How was she going to get Fleur out of the castle and over to Hagrid's hut without being spotted by anyone? The Task would definitely be over now and people could be anywhere.

Hermione had another brainwave.

"Stay here a moment," Hermione asked Fleur. Fleur nodded, still quite dazed.

Hermione raced over to the boys' dormitory, digging through Harry's trunk until she found his Invisibility Cloak. She ran back to the girls' dormitories as fast as she could, alarmed as she saw people entering the Common Room on her way back.

Thankfully, Fleur was where she left her.

Hermione's stomach wrenched violently as she realised Fleur had picked up the green book from the floor and her notebook, though hadn't opened them yet. She seemed more concerned with stroking the leather on the notebook cover.

"Fleur!" Hermione gasped.

Fleur looked up with a wide smile.

"Leather-bound books just feel better, don't zey?" Fleur marvelled.

"Right," Hermione replied, satisfied that Fleur had been too distracted with the book covers to inspect any further.

She snatched the books from Fleur, shoving them roughly in her satchel.

"Let's go," Hermione insisted, "Have you ever been under an Invisibility Cloak before?"

"Mn, no!" Fleur replied, fascinated, "A fun date idea?"

"Ah, could be?" Hermione replied, blushing. She was flustered enough without Fleur babbling about dates people could go on.

"Bon," Fleur replied, "Let's go!"

Hermione put her satchel on and flung the Invisibility Cloak over them.

Thankfully, apart from the distracting sensation of being close to Fleur under the cloak, it actually wasn't too hard to sneak Fleur out of the castle and across the grounds. The blonde was thankfully distracted by her curly hair again.

Hermione pulled the cloak off them as she knocked on the door of Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid answered the door promptly, surprised to see them.

"Hermione," Hagrid greeted, "This is a bi' of a surprise! I though' ye'd be out wi' Harry celebrating th' First Task 'n' all!"

"Hagrid, I need your help," Hermione said, pushing past the large man and pulling Fleur into the hut, "My friend here is part-Veela and… Er… I accidentally exposed her to murtlap."

"Oh!" Hagrid exclaimed, scratching his chin through his dense beard as he observed Fleur, "Well, ye'll be higher than a fairy a' yuletide!"

"Yes, she is… But how do I stop it?" Hermione asked desperately.

"Ye can't," Hagrid replied in his bassy voice, "Bu' it doesn' last long. When did was she exposed t' it?"

"Uh," Hermione looked at her watch, trying to wrack her brains as to when she would have entered Fleur's tent, "About an hour ago?"

"Ah, no worries then," Hagrid replied, his eyes crinkling as he smiled reassuringly. He turned to Fleur, "How about ye go lie down on th' couch over there?"

Fleur, yawning now, nodded. She calmly went and laid down on the couch.

"No worries?" Hermione replied, anxious.

Hagrid gestured a dustpan-sized hand to his small table and chairs.

"It'll be wearing off any mo now," Hagrid replied, "Best thing t' do is let her sleep th' last of it off. So, y' wanna tell me why you got Harry's competitor hopped up on drugs?"

Hagrid rummaged around before he settled down in a chair, making them a cup of tea. Hermione joined him at the table. To her disappointment, he pulled a cloth off a basket, revealing some more of his signature rock cakes.

"Er, I think I'll stick to tea," Hermione said politely, "Anyway… I didn't get her high on purpose. It was an innocent mistake. I happened to have some murtlap on hand and she grabbed it to see what it was. I hardly told her to hold it to her face and inhale!"

"Ye, but mos' creatures susceptible to murtlap are qui'e curious of it," Hagrid replied, "How did ye' happen to have murtlap of all things?"

Hermione looked guiltily down at her mug of tea.

"Neville gave me some," Hermione half-admitted.

It seemed as if Hagrid could see through her, as he sighed heavily.

"Ye always were awfully curious o' Magical Creature folk," Hagrid said, sipping at his own tea, "You should be careful though. There's a thin line between curiosity an' treatin' someone like an object. An' I oughta know, it ain't easy at the bes' o' times bein' part Creature amongst the humans. Th' las' thing ye want is for your friends to be treatin' ye different too."

Hermione looked up then, surprised by Hagrid's candour. He usually didn't talk about his obviously part Creature heritage.

"You're…"

"Half-Gian' yeah," Hagrid grunted, looking wistfully out of a window, "People always treated me diff'rent coz of it."

Hermione sighed, guilt overtaking her.

"It's my fault," Hermione said mournfully, "My stupid curiosity is what got her in this state," Hermione gestured to the dozing part-Veela on the couch, "Whether it was an accident or not. What do I do, Hagrid?"

Hagrid considered the situation for a moment, scratching his beard again.

"Well, if it were me tha' you'd dosed," Hagrid mused, "I spose I'd wanna know. I'd be upset, granted, bu' at least you'd been up front wi' me so we could move past it."

"Upset?" Hermione asked, her stomach twisting badly.

"Yeah," Hagrid grunted, "I mean, nobody wants te feel like a lab rat. It's not as if ye were running full on experiments an' a research project on her, but it'll still hurt the lass to know you put her in harm's way out of your curiosity."

Hermione felt her stomach twist even more violently.

She wanted to leave. Every fibre of her being was screaming at her to get out and run from the horrific situation she had caused.

But the only thing worse than researching Fleur and accidentally drugging her would be to leave her to wake up in an unfamiliar place with a strange man looming over her.

"Right," Hermione said in a small voice.

"Hermione, ye'd never hurt anyone on purpose," Hagrid counselled.

"Of course not," Hermione replied. But somehow that didn't seem to matter if the person had still got into harm's way because of her anyway.

Hermione changed the subject abruptly, asking Hagrid about how things were going with Madam Maxime. From what Harry had described of the night he tailed them to see the dragons, it sounded like they were dating.

Sure enough, Hagrid's face lit up and he spent a solid half hour happily telling Hermione about Maxime. It was new, he explained, but he was very optimistic and excited. It was really quite sweet. Hagrid hadn't dated anyone in the years they'd known him. It was about time he found some happiness.

"'Ermione?"

Hermione turned around in time to see Fleur getting up from the couch, her hair a little tousled but otherwise looking back to normal.

"Er, hey Fleur," Hermione greeted sheepishly, "This is Hagrid."

"Nice to meet you, 'Agrid," Fleur nodded, "Apologies for my state."

"Not a problem!" Hagrid assured her, waving his hand dismissively, "An' don' worry. I won' be telling Olympe. Us part-Creatures have te stick together."

"Merci," Fleur sighed.

"Come, I'll walk you back to your Carriage," Hermione offered, rubbing the back of her neck, "Thanks Hagrid."

"No problem, Hermione," Hagrid smiled, "You look after yourself, now."

Hermione awkwardly stepped out of Hagrid's Hut with Fleur. Fleur seemed a little awkward now. They walked beside each other in uncomfortable silence for half the walk to the Beauxbatons Carriage.

"I'm so sorry about the murtlap," Hermione finally said, breaking the excruciating silence, "My friend Neville is obsessed with Herbology and handed me some as I was on my way to see you and Harry. I didn't stop to think about how it could affect you, honest!"

"It is okay, 'Ermione," Fleur said gently, "I know many people who do not know of ze affect murtlap can 'ave on a number of Creatures and part-Creatures."

"Oh," Hermione replied simply. She had known it affected Creatures and part-Creatures, just now how it affected them. She felt full of guilt.

They reached the Beauxbatons Carriage.

"I am just a little embarrassed about my behaviour," Fleur admitted, "I didn't mean for you to see me like zat."

"Fleur! It was my fault, not yours," Hermione said, looking at the blonde guiltily.

Fleur shook her head.

"It was an accident—nobody's fault," Fleur conceded, "I just… I don't like ze zought zat you could see me in such an unflattering state."

"Fleur," Hermione tried to reason with the blonde.

Fleur shook her pretty head.

"I really need a shower," Fleur said, changing the subject, "I will see you around, oui?"

"Er, oui," Hermione replied awkwardly.

Fleur, a light blush on her cheeks, stepped elegantly into the Beauxbatons Carriage, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Hermione groaned, turning and wandering listlessly back to the castle.

The whole research project was a disaster.

Yes, she had found some amazing things out about part-Veela, but she was starting to see that maybe there were more important things in the world than learning and knowledge.

Fleur really felt like one of those things.

Hermione walked in autopilot, storming through the halls of the castle. She was utterly exhausted and consumed with guilt.

Worst still, now she finally had a moment without drama for the first time in almost a day, she was finally mulling over the realisations she had come to. She'd realised last night that she cared what Fleur thought. She cared about what happened to the Delacour sisters and didn't want anything bad to happen to them, intentional or not.

Hermione found herself in the library. She smiled humourlessly. Even in autopilot she was drawn to knowledge.

This was exactly the part of her that had caused all this trouble.

Hermione wrenched her satchel off her shoulder, grabbing the Veela textbook and her research notebook out of her bag. She stuffed them forcefully into a nearby rubbish bin, angry at herself.

When Hermione made it to the Gryffindor Common Room, she was almost bowled over. It was incredibly loud and plastered in bright red and gold decorations.

Hermione was immediately accosted by Harry and Ron, arms around each other's shoulders.

"Made up then?" Hermione asked, arching an eyebrow.

"'Mione, you saw what I saw, right?" Ron said incredulously, "Nobody in their right mind would secretly sign themselves up for that!"

"Right," Hermione replied.

"Merlin, what has your panties in a twist?" Ron asked, frowning.

"Long night," Hermione sighed, "I was in the Hospital Wing all night because Malfoy and his goons hexed me. It made my teeth grow down past my chin! It was such a painful remedy too. Honestly, I just need some sleep."

"Those bastards," Harry cursed, "Do you need us to have a word to Malfoy?"

"I already got him with a hex of my own," Hermione sighed, "I just need some sleep."

"Okay, well, good idea!" Ron said, brightening, "Fred and George are arranging a party tomorrow night to celebrate the Champions. Best get rested up for the festivities!"

Hermione just grunted in response, tiredly setting off to the girls' dormitories.

She took a long shower and got into her pajamas, despite it only being late afternoon. Climbing into her bed and pulling the curtains around it, Hermione was struck by how her pillows smelt like Fleur. She wondered again if it was a perfume or if Fleur naturally smelt like flowers.

Hermione sighed heavily, inhaling the scent and letting her body relax.

It was okay.

She'd got rid of the notebook and the textbook. The effects of the murtlap had worn off. Nobody had caught Fleur while she was high.

Hermione could turn it around.

She sighed, beginning to relax.

But now her mind turned back to the previous evening. How she had snapped and everything she had carefully avoided thinking about had rushed forward.

She'd been worried Harry would die.

'Well, he didn't,' Hermione thought to herself, 'If anything, he absolutely nailed the First Task.'

She'd also been upset about her research on Fleur and looking after the Delacours. Well… That one hadn't gone as swimmingly. But at least she had got Fleur safely back to her Carriage and got rid of her research materials.

'I can't undo my mistakes… But I can make a fresh start,' Hermione thought.

What else had she been worrying about?

'That you're into women,' Hermione's inner voice reminded her. She blushed, despite being alone in the secrecy of her bed.

She'd been so busy with everything else she hadn't had time to think about it.

'Yet you still had time to check out Fleur's ass in the Champion's tent,' the little voice in Hermione's mind reminded her. Hermione blushed further.

Hermione felt renewed guilt. Surely it wasn't very moral to be checking out her new friend's body at every opportunity.

She rolled over in her bed, pulling her covers over her head.

'But Fleur herself was kissing a girl in the library… Remember?' the little voice in Hermione's mind reminded.

'That was Julie,' Hermione reminded herself, 'Julie is almost as drop-dead gorgeous as Fleur herself. There is no way someone like Fleur, even if she is into girls, would ever be into someone like me. It really isn't right to be checking her out.'

Hermione shut her eyes tightly, willing on the sleep she so desperately needed.

Hermione walked into the Great Hall the next morning, finally feeling well-rested.

She was looking forward to finally finding out the scores for the First Task at the Gryffindor table.

Sure enough, she had barely sat down between Ginny and Ron when an owl arrived, depositing her Daily Prophet.

Hermione looked at the front page, which predictably had a summary of the First Task in one corner.

'Triwizard Tournament First Task Rankings:

1= Harry Potter at 40 points

1= Fleur Delacour at 40 points

2 Viktor Krum at 36 points

3 Cedric Diggory at 35 points

Details on the Task performances at page 6

Details on the Champions' romantic lives, page 7'

"Wait—what?" Hermione had a horrible thought, recalling Skeeter's comment about her and Harry.

Sure enough, when she leafed to page 7, she saw a large photo of her and Harry embracing inside the tent.

Underneath Skeeter had written up how Hermione had snuck into the tent 'to see her love one last time before the Task.' Hermione let out a growl of annoyance.

Her eyes flicked down and she saw a blurry far-away photo of Viktor and a vaguely female blob entering the Durmstrang ship. Skeeter had wildly speculated over who the 'mystery woman' was. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Cedric had got off lightly, as he actually did have a girlfriend—Cho Chang. Nothing appeared to be too salacious or twisted about his write up.

Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the last scoop. A photo of Fleur and Julie. It was the two girls smiling at each other right by the Beauxbatons Carriage. They seemed to be joking with each other before Julie leant in, kissing Fleur sweetly. Hermione felt her stomach wrench. The write up from Skeeter was incredibly unflattering.

'It seems the Veela blood in her veins is not the only unnatural thing about the blonde vixen from Beauxbatons. The Champion appears to prefer the company of other women—as evidenced by a steamy make out in a little-known part of the Hogwarts library.

Hermione halted at that. Nobody had been there except for her and Gabrielle. In fact, Hermione had never seen Skeeter in the library before.

A curious choice for the blonde—considering males are affected by her thrall. With girls, on the other hand, Delacour has to rely on her own personality—which is icy at best.'

Hermione scowled.

"Woah!" Ron exclaimed, peeking over her shoulder, "Fleur making out with another chick? Hot!"

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione growled, "It's a load of rubbish."

"You and Harry, maybe," Ron conceded, "But look at that photo!"

"Skeeter is a menace," Harry commented darkly from across the table, shaking his head. He had his own subscription and had just read the piece himself.

Ron let out a low whistle.

"Say, since you're just going to throw out the paper anyway, d'ya think I could keep it?" Ron asked, positively drooling as he looked at the photo of Julie and Fleur.

"You're a pig," Hermione growled, balling up the paper and tossing it further down the table.

"Hey!" Ron yelped.

"You know what? I've lost my appetite," Hermione retorted, getting up from the table.

"Merlin, I dunno why she's so mad about two bloody dykes getting it on," Ron commented as Hermione stormed away from the table.

Hermione balled her hands into tight fists. Ron could really be a jerk sometimes.

Hermione stormed into the Entrance Hall before stopping in her tracks. Fleur herself was in the Entrance Hall, having an intense looking conversation with Julie. Julie looked up at Hermione, said something to Fleur and then walked out of the Entrance Hall, looking very put out.

Hermione felt her stomach twist again.

'I have no right to feel jealous,' Hermione reminded herself.

"'Ermione," Fleur sighed, looking harassed, "Ah, you 'aven't seen ze paper by any chance, 'ave you?"

"I have," Hermione replied, "Are you okay?"

"Zere is no relationship wiz Julie," Fleur said quickly, "Zat zing in ze library was one of ze last times we kissed. Ze photo was an old one from soon after we arrived 'ere."

"Okay," Hermione replied. She had to admit, she was a little happy to hear that, not that she would admit it, "Are you okay, though? Its been a full on couple of days for you."

"I am okay," Fleur replied, raising her chin proudly. But then her smile faltered a little bit, "So, ze part about you and 'Arry?"

"Utter bollocks," Hermione responded, "Never even kissed. We're just mates."

"Bon," Fleur nodded.

She looked a little uncertain for a moment, shuffling in her heeled boots. She was casually dressed today; a pair of tight black jeans, black heeled boots, a green jumper and a grey peacoat.

"How's Gabrielle?" Hermione asked, wanting to shake the blonde out of her discomfort. It didn't appear to work. She seemed anxious.

"Fine. She was a little annoyed zat she was not allowed to watch ze First Task," Fleur said dismissively before taking a deep breath, "… Are we okay?"

Hermione was surprised. If anything, she was worried that Fleur would have got angry at her overnight about the murtlap incident. Maybe this was a good time to try and set things right in her friendship with Fleur.

"Of course," Hermione replied, "Say… What are you doing today? It's the first Hogsmeade Weekend of the school year. It might be fun to go together, maybe get a drink?"

Fleur's face lit up instantly. Hermione relaxed. Her friendship didn't seem in too much jeopardy with the blonde.

'Now just try not to check her out,' Hermione told herself.

"Zat sounds tres bien, 'Ermione," Fleur smiled widely, "What time shall we go?"

"After lunch?" Hermione suggested.

Fleur nodded excitedly.

She looked so utterly beautiful with her excitement. Hermione always felt so privileged to see the usually icy and reserved blonde revealing her emotions freely. Her blonde hair was framing her face and her blue eyes were bright and sparkling.

Hermione felt her stomach flip.

'Don't check out your friend. Do not check out your friend. You've already run a secret research project on her and accidentally got her high… You have to avoid doing anything else that crosses any kind of line,' Hermione told herself firmly.

Hermione met Fleur dutifully just after lunch. She was even more stunned at how pretty the part-Veela was. She seemed to have put on some makeup since Hermione had last seen her in the morning.

Hermione spent the whole walk to Hogsmeade inwardly chiding herself for noticing just how beautiful Fleur was looking. She was determined to focus on being a good, platonic friend.

However, her face reddened a little as Fleur asked if they could have their drink at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop instead of the Three Broomsticks. It made it seem almost like a date.

But she doubled down with her resolve, avoiding any too-long glances, any accidental brushes of hands, and any words that could be considered too friendly.

She sat across the table from Fleur, gazing at her. Merlin, it was easy to get lost in those bright blue sparkling eyes.

Fleur told Hermione at length about how adorably sulky Gabrielle had been about missing the First Task. It melted Hermione's heart. She couldn't wait to see the lively child again.

"I have to say… You were so amazing in the First Task, Fleur," Hermione said with a smile, "I cannot believe how advanced your spell-work is!"

"Can't you?" Fleur replied, arching an eyebrow cockily.

Hermione swallowed. Fleur was quite hot when she was cocky.

"Er, and that flip at the end to dodge the flames!" Hermione continued, undeterred.

"I can do a lot of zings," Fleur replied, smiling and looking at her. Hermione felt like Fleur's gaze was practically smouldering. She had to change the subject.

"So, it looked like you had a little argument with Julie this morning," Hermione said, sipping at her tea. She couldn't help herself with the subject change. She was jealous that Julie got to kiss Fleur and curious as to what was going on between the two friends.

Fleur sighed, putting down her peppermint tea. She looked out the window, looking conflicted.

"Do you really want to know about zis?" Fleur asked, looking a little uncomfortable.

Hermione was even more curious now.

"Yeah," Hermione replied, leaning forward, "I mean if you're comfortable talking about it… That is."

Fleur sighed.

"We… We've always kind of… Blurred ze lines of our friendship," Fleur said awkwardly, "Zere are not zat many ozzer girls at Beauxbatons zat like girls too, non? It was fun to play around wiz each ozzer but zere was always ze understanding zat we were nozzing more zan friends."

Fleur bit her lip and looked down at her cup of tea, running a manicured finger across the delicate china saucer.

"Okay," Hermione nodded. So it kind of sounded like they just fooled around with each other when they were bored because there were no other girls at Beauxbatons that liked girls.

"So when I told Julie zat we could not kiss or," Fleur blushed and looked away, "Or anyzing else, I expected she would be fine wiz it. But… It turns out she wants to be more zan friends now."

"Oh," Hermione replied, her stomach dropping a little, "And you don't want that?"

"Obviously not," Fleur said, making a vague gesture to the table.

"Right," Hermione concurred, before scrunching her face up in confusion, "Wait, what?"

"You are kidding… Right?" Fleur asked, her smile beginning to falter.

"Kidding about what?" Hermione asked, drawing a blank, "Am I missing something?"

Fleur's smile entirely fell off her face.

Hermione felt a dawning sense of horror, like she had just made a terrible mistake—although she had no idea what.

"Is zis not a date?" Fleur asked slowly.

Hermione choked on her mouthful of tea. It took her some time to regain her composure, during which time Fleur's facial expression had grown considerably icier.

"I… Was it meant to be?" Hermione managed to croak finally.

"I zought… I zought zat was what zis was all about," Fleur said, her voice quiet, "Ze asking me to sit wiz you in a secluded part of ze library, giving me your scarf…"

"I… Y-You were cold!" Hermione stuttered.

"What about ze fact you always 'appened to 'ave my favourite foods?" Fleur asked, her brows knitting together in confusion, "You weren't trying to win me over?"

Hermione felt her stomach twist even more violently. Her head was buzzing with thoughts. Should she confess to the research? Or would that just make things worse? Could things even get worse?

Another, more frantic line of thoughts was conflicting with those; 'Fleur thought I was trying to date her!' and 'Fleur ACCEPTED what she thought was a date with me!'

Hermione shook her head, overwhelmed.

"I… I was interested in Veela," Hermione confessed, "A friend got me a book on Veela and I was seeing how much of it applied to part-Veela."

It felt good to get it off her chest, but she was light-headed with the sheer anxiety of confessing it to the pretty blonde in front of her. Still, if she were going to have a shot at continuing this unexpected date, then she had to come clean.

"You what?!" Fleur snapped, her voice raising.

Hermione became aware of people in the tea house turning to look at their table. Her stomach felt like it had dropped right out of her body. Was this a dream? A terrible, terrible dream?

"I…"

"So none of zis was because you were actually interested in getting to know me?" Fleur demanded, her eyes fiery now, "I was just some research project to you?!"

"Fleur, I…" Hermione struggled to find the words, "I stopped it when I realised how amazing you are. I threw my findings away! I really like spending time with you… And now that I know you thought this was a date…"

"Your findings?!" Fleur shrieked, "Unbelievable!"

"I threw them out!" Hermione repeated desperately. She could see everything she wanted right within her grasp, but slipping away before her eyes.

"You 'aven't been following Gabrielle around like zis, 'ave you?" Fleur asked, narrowing her eyes. She was so protective of her baby sister.

"No—no! Of course not!" Hermione spluttered, "I would never do that."

"Non, you would never do zat," Fleur replied, her voice scathing, "You wouldn't use my sister for your own selfish gain, just me."

"Fleur, it started like that… But I like you," Hermione tried to appeal to Fleur. She was terrified at what she was about to utter, considering she had been keeping it down so strongly until now, but it was now or never. "Fleur, when I started I thought you were just icy and mean. But now… You're so cute and intelligent and interesting and wow! I didn't think you could possibly be interested in me like this, but… I do really want to take you on a date."

Fleur looked furious.

"What? Now you 'ave ze conclusion to your little experiment?!" Fleur hissed, "You used me for research! Now you just want to use me again!"

"No!" Hermione pleaded.

Fleur picked up her glass of water and threw it in Hermione's face.

"Stay away from me and my sister," Fleur hissed as she stood up from the table. She rose to her full height, straightening her back and raising her head proudly. She turned on her heel and stormed out without another word.

Hermione was left sitting at the table, hair and face dripping, soaking in what a total disaster the outing had been.

The people at tables next door were murmuring amongst themselves. She was sure everyone now knew what she had done to Fleur—not to mention her sexuality.

'Could this day get worse?' Hermione thought miserably to herself.

Amongst the murmuring, Hermione distinctly heard sniggering. She looked across the tea house and saw Pansy and Draco looking at her and laughing.

'Yep, apparently it could…'