Texting and Training
Fleur was in a sour mood. With the registration of the Champions, photoshoots to get their picture in the Triwizard Book of Centuries, the Weighing of Wands as well as regular classes, Fleur hadn't seen Hermione at all, for a full week! except for a few smiles, waves and glances during meals. Today was Saturday and she was totally hell-bent on meeting her Hermione, come hell and high water. She'll blast everyone who tries to come in her path to oblivion!
She was also pissed because she had slept till late and had missed her brown-eyed wonder at breakfast. Thankfully, Alexia and Gabrielle had come to wake her up afterwards or she would have spent the whole day sleeping. The Tournament hadn't yet started, yet all the procedures associated with it were so tiring. She was eager to be over with it.
Walking towards the library, she hoped that the brunette was there. She had come up with a way to stay in contact with her girl, with not being sure how the coming days would be. For all she knew, it could be a week again before she saw her other half and that was not good enough for her, she had to stay in contact! As she stepped into the library, her heart rate increased, alerting her of the presence of the Gryffindor and yes, there she was, pulling books out of a tall bookcase. Fleur smiled at the cute image of Hermione on her tiptoes, reaching for a book high up.
"Need any 'elp?" asked Fleur as she approached the brunette, not waiting for a response before reaching up to take out the book the girl had been reaching for.
"Fleur! Thank you," she said as the blonde handed her the book, "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm tired" sighed Fleur, "Zhese pre-tournament procedures are exhausting."
"Yeah, I heard about it. Harry has been complaining about it as well. Come, let's sit."
The pair walked to Hermione's usual table, well secluded from eyes that had been on Fleur as soon as she walked into the place.
"So 'ow waz your week, 'Ermione? I missed our conversations," said Fleur as she seated herself.
"Oh, I missed them too. I have read the books I took out on loan and it was so interesting! Yet some parts were confusing and I had so many questions to ask about it all but you were busy," replied Hermione, eyes twinkling as all the questions she had wanted to ask flew back into her mind.
"Oh, I wish I 'ad been zere to answer your questions but the tournament, you know," Fleur smiled apologetically, "I 'ave something to remedy zat zough." Rummaging through her pocket, the blonde took out a gold identity bracelet with thin cursive letters spelling Hermione. "I made zis for you" Fleur smiled shyly as she showed the bracelet to the girl, "you can add more charms to it wiz time."
"It's… it is beautiful…but Fleur…I cannot take it. It's too much, after the book." It was a beautiful golden link bracelet with charms attached to it, a tiny replica of her wand, the Ultimate charms book and the Gryffindor crest along with a grumpy cat face looking exactly like Crookshanks.
"Non, non. I 'ave to explain," said Fleur quickly. Looking at the confused face that Hermione was sporting, she continued, "it iz no ordinary bracelet, 'Ermione. 'Ere, let me show you." Taking the brunette hand into hers, Fleur slipped the bracelet easily onto the Gryffindor's wrist. "It can only be removed by you and it will slip easily onto your wrist. I have put a Protean Charm on it so zat we can communicate."
"I've read about this spell! It is a charm to link several objects together. There are various ways the objects can be linked. The more details, the more complicated!" said Hermione excitedly, fingering the jewellery.
"Ze spell iz in ze book I gave you. I'm sure you will have no problem wiz it," smiled Fleur at the intelligent brunette before resuming, "So you say ze password," Fleur explained, whispering the password to the brunette.
Hermione, eyes totally focused on the charmed jewellery piece, repeated the password Fleur said. She watched, fascinated as the bracelet slipped off her wrist into her hand and slowly transformed into a letter-sized parchment and a small crimson quill, "This is amazing!"
"So it iz yours. You can communicate wiz me by writing on ze parchment." Fleur removed a different bracelet from her bag, this one made of silver, "it goes to my bracelet and warms it up so I know I 'ave a new message. Each time you write something, just tick it at ze end and it will be sent to me. The quill doesn't need ink." Fleur explained, "And to finish, to return ze parchment to its bracelet form, say your password again adding ze word 'Finite' at ze end "
"It's brilliant, Fleur. That level of a charm must have been difficult."
"I practised. Also, I added one more thing to it in case you 'ave someone else use it one day. If you write to me, your name will appear on my parchment. If someone else does, zeir name will appear, not yours. Same for mine. Zis way, in case of emergency, you can give someone else to write to me and I will know it iz not you. Ze fact zat only you can take it off means no one can steal it from you."
"Fleur…" This was an amazing gift. Hermione knew that it must have required a large amount of effort and magic to make not one but two of those bracelets! She was amazed! To have someone go through so much effort to make her such a gift just because they knew she liked asking questions. She had no words. "Oh Fleur. I don't know what to say…."
"You… you like it?" asked Fleur timidly, giving a small smile to the happy Gryffindor in front of her.
"Oh Fleur, I love it!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, reigning herself at the last second as Madam Pince sent her an angry look. Instead, she settled on launching herself at the blonde and giving her a fierce hug. "This is the best gift ever! Together with your book of course!" she gushed, trying to keep her voice down.
"'Ermione, you are always asking me questions so it was easy to know what to give you. You are very inquisitive, it iz cute," Fleur blushed, ecstatic at the fact that the brunette was in her arms, " Also I wanted for us to be able to communicate, in case I 'ave anozer busy week like ze previous one becauze of ze tournament."
"Oh, thank you!" smiled Hermione, "Can we try it tonight?" she asked shyly, as she put back the bracelet onto her wrist "unless you are going to bed early. I mean if you are tired. Of course, you are tired, you just said it before! How silly of me…"
"'Ermione." Fleur grasped the hand of the brunette to stop her rambling, "I would love to try it tonight, I cannot wait." She replied with a huge smile, erasing the nervousness of the brunette.
"Thank you," grinned Hermione, "so what is your plan for this weekend?"
"I was planning to start my training for ze tournament. It iz going to start in two weeks."
Hermione frowned, "I… I don't know how I feel about you participating Fleur. It is such a dangerous competition. It was cancelled for years because of a high death toll! I can't believe Dumbledore is allowing such a tournament to be held at school."
"Oui, I know but zis iz why I came 'ere 'Ermione, for ze Tournament. I was only allowed to come 'ere so I could compete," replied Fleur. "That is not a good enough reason to me," pouted Hermione, folding her arms onto her chest and sulking.
"Well, we can't change anything now. I 'ave to practice to make sure I don't get into ze death toll statistics," joked Fleur.
The joke wasn't funny to Hermione but she stopped herself from saying so. The two girls spent the rest of their day at the lake, getting Dobby to pack them a picnic, where Fleur and Hermione practised a multitude of spells together, teaching each other anything they knew.
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Soon, it was dinner time and the pair reluctantly walked back to the Great Hall and to their respective tables.
"Where have you been? I have been looking for you," demanded Ron.
"Hmm? I've been to the library and then out. Why?" asked Hermione, dishing some mashed potatoes onto her plate.
"It's the weekend. It's the only time we can go to Hogsmeade and yet you are nowhere to be found!" said Ron, his voice clearly showing his anger and frustration.
"You have been in a really bad mood for the whole week Ron, we haven't even talked. Plus we have to talk. We'll do it after dinner."
"I haven't talked to you because you have been stuck to Harry all week." He replied, annoyed, "What do we have to talk about? " his voice turned curious.
"Harry has done nothing wrong, Ron! He told us that he didn't put his name in, why don't you get that?! And I said we will talk about us after dinner." She argued forcefully, exasperated at the redhead.
"And you believe him?!" asked Ron, incredulously, "The Goblet wouldn't have spit out his name if he hadn't added it in!" he argued back, stabbing at his piece of chicken.
"Yes, I believe him. He has been our best friend for six years now, Ron. Saved our lives countless times, in case you forgot. Of course, I believe him. I trust him."
"Whatever." He replied, shoving the crushed piece of chicken into his mouth, muttering, Women… too gullible, so easily fooled…
The rest of the dinner was spent in peace with Ron more interested in shoving his food into his mouth. She was thankful that Harry had decided to have his dinner in the Common Rooms with Ginny. He loved Ron as a brother and was hurt at the harsh words and jealous and distrustful behaviour of the redhead.
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After dinner was over, Hermione stood up, giving a smile and nod to Fleur who was watching her from the Ravenclaw table, before making way to the Gryffindor Common Room with Ron. She instructed the redhead inside an empty classroom just one stair level below the Gryffindor tower.
Ron smiled, "so what exactly are you planning, dragging me in an empty classroom?" he said throatily, a lust-filled and smug look on his face.
Hermione fidgeted uncomfortably from the look the redhead was sending her. "Ron… I have come to the conclusion that… you are one of my best friends… and" she paused for a few seconds and took a deep breath, "and I love you, yes… but as a friend… You get what I mean…?"
"What do you mean as a friend?" Ron asked, his voice rising in volume.
"I mean that I don't like you more than as friends, Ron. I value your friendship," She explained calmly.
"Is this because of my behaviour with Fleur?" asked Ron, running his hand in his hair, frustrated, "I'm sorry about that. She's a Veela, her thrall affects me. It's not my fault!" He voiced out, eyes softly pleading.
Shaking her head, Hermione sincerely answered, "No Ron, it's not about that at all. It's just not going to work between us."
His eyes flashed, no longer soft, "How can you know that it will not work if you haven't tried?" barked the Weasley, not believing that he was being dumped even before being in a relationship.
"That's it, Ron. I don't want to kiss you…" explained Hermione quietly, hoping that it would calm him, "I just want to remain your friend."
Ron walked forward and grasped her arm tightly, "How do you know you don't want to when you haven't even really tried?!" he growled, shaking with anger he was containing inside him.
"Let go of me, Ron" Hermione pulled her arm out of the grasp of the redhead. Taking a deep breath, "I am trying to do this peacefully. I don't want anything more than being your friend, Ron."
Realising that he had lost control of the situation by grabbing the brunette, Ron reigned in his anger and apologised, "I'm sorry, Mione but you have to understand, you're suddenly saying you are not interested."
Hermione sighed, "I know Ron, I'm sorry."
"But why? We haven't even tried yet. Why do you think it is not going to work?" asked Ron, frustrated, not understanding why the brunette was not willing to try and work it out.
"I… I thought I could feel something for you since I've known you for a long time and you are my friend, Ron but I realised I don't. I don't feel anything with you. I feel our friendship but nothing other than that."
"What if I try harder?" persisted Ron, "I will become more attentive to you, we can go to dates. Anything you want."
"It is not that, Ron. I just don't feel anything. I'm sorry," replied Hermione sadly, feeling guilty at having hurt the redhead but also relieved to have ended it before it started and got complicated. She walked towards the classroom door.
"I'm not going to give up, Hermione," said Ron, making her hand stop over the doorknob, "I will show you that I am what you need." Stationary for a few seconds, Hermione shook her head gently before opening the door and walking out. I don't want someone to show me that they are what I need. I need someone to show me that I am all they need…
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Having changed into her pyjamas, Hermione took her wand and transfigured one of her pillows into a tray, positioned in front of her headboard. She crawled into her bed and under her covers and laid down on her stomach with another pillow supporting her head. Taking off her bracelet, she whispered the password and watched it change into the parchment and quill. She placed them onto her tray and picked up the quill. Biting her lips, she thought for a few minutes about what to write before deciding on simple words.
'Good evening Fleur', she scribbled, pondering for a few seconds if it was enough before deciding to leave it as it is and ticking it. She stared at the words, inked in red, getting more nervous as the seconds ticked by. After a few minutes, there was still no response. Disappointed, Hermione buried her face into her pillow and whined. When suddenly, she felt a warmth at her fingertips that were still on the parchment. Looking up abruptly, she watched as words started to get inked under her own line, in blue.
F: Good Evening, Hermione. Sorry for the late response, just walked into my room :)
Hermione smiled at the small smiley at the end. Fleur seemed to like smileys. After all, she had drawn them in her 'Ultimate Charms' book as well.
H: It is fine :) So what are you going to do now? Hermione decided small talk was a good way to start, adding smileys of her own. She couldn't jump right into her story about what happened with Ron, though she desperately wanted to.
F: I am making myself comfortable in my bed with my parchment and quill so as to better reply to a certain brunette.
H: Oh really, someone I know?
F: Oui, beautiful brunette, smartest person I've ever met, has the most brilliant brown eyes. Ring any bells?
H: No…
F: Is something wrong, Hermione?
H: I talked to Ron and told him we are best as friends.
The news stunned Fleur for a while. She hadn't thought that Hermione would actually do it and so soon at that. Never underestimate the Gryffindor courage.
H: Are you there..? Realising that she hadn't replied and had left the girl hanging, Fleur scrawled a reply quickly.
F: Yes, I am here.
H: So? You have nothing to say?
F: :) Give me time to write my reply, Hermione.
H: Sorry… :S
F: I hadn't actually thought that you would do it so soon so I was a bit shocked, that's why the delayed reply. How are you feeling?
H: I feel fine. A bit sad that I hurt him but relieved to finally be out of the limbo. After talking to you, I realised that it wouldn't work. I mean, we have nothing in common and most of the time, when we talk, we fight. As friends, it is alright but in a relationship, it doesn't work that way. He also makes me feel inadequate.
F: Yes, it shouldn't be like that. You did the right thing. How did he take it?
H: He didn't take it well. We ended up arguing until I put a stop to it. I don't think he understood me though. He said he is not willing to give up and that he will make me realise that he is what I need.
F: Oh Hermione, I'm sorry about that. The day you feel like you need someone, that person should be needing you a million times more. Just the way I need you… more than life itself.
H: Do people like that even exist…?
F: Oh they do Hermione. They are just difficult to spot. They might be in front of you but you can't see it. Like me…
H: Well, if you spot them, point me in the right direction?
F: I'll see what I can do :) I'm right here… Fleur sighed sadly.
H: :) By the way, do you know what will be the first task of the Tournament?
F: I have no idea. Does Harry know anything?
H: No. Harry is so scared. He never actually put his name in the Goblet. He wasn't prepared to be chosen.
F: He didn't submit his name?! Then… How?
H: I am not sure but I have my suspicions.
F: And what are your suspicions?
H: I know it might sound farfetched to you but I think Harry is in danger. Someone is trying to get him killed.
F: Why? I'm worried to hear that, especially with the fact that you are his friend. If it is true, then you might be in danger from just being around him.
H: It has always been like that. Long story of my years at Hogwarts. He saved my life a lot of times and I have always been by his side since the first year. I'll never abandon him because of the danger.
F: I'm not saying that you should abandon him. You are far too courageous and loyal for that. I'm just worried about you. If those are your suspicions, then I'll believe it and try to keep my eyes open during the Tournament. I'll help him.
H: You would do that? I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything because I am not in the Tournament. There is only so much I can do for him before each task.
F: Yes, for you, I will do it.
H: I don't know how to thank you for everything that you keep doing for me…
F: Don't thank me. You are my friend and that's what friends do. It is exactly what you would do for Harry.
H: True but still thanks :)
F: Well, it is getting late now and no matter how much I want to keep talking to you, I think it is best we go to bed and meet up tomorrow? We can talk more about the First Task.
H: You are right. Our usual place?
F: Oui. Fleur smiled at the 'Our usual place', Goodnight Hermione, sweet dreams :)
H: Goodnight Fleur, sweet dreams to you too :)
Both girls whispered their respective closing passwords to their parchment and slipped their bracelet back onto their wrists before going to sleep.
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The next day, the girls met up after breakfast and walked towards the lake where they spent the rest of the day practising more spells and talking about the things Hermione had learnt from the Veela books.
Soon Monday was back and the girls only managed to spend some free breaks in the library together and meeting after dinner till curfew, then writing to each other the rest of the night. Fleur had gotten an owl carrying a big package which revealed to be the books her grandmother said she was sending, a few titles like 'Veela's Mating Ritual & Effects', 'Physical and Magical Changes of the Mated Veela", 'The Veela Life Bond, Explained' and 'Guide to Being a Veela Mate'. She knew her grandmother had sent her those books for her to read but also to show Hermione, but it was too early for that. She will give only selected books that she has already read for the time being. No way, she was giving 'Guide to Being a Veela Mate' to the Gryffindor, it would shock her to the core.
The arrival of the packages made everything more official so Fleur officially announced that she had found her mate to the Veela flock of Beauxbatons, all part of the Delacour Clan. The Delacour Clan was the biggest clan in Europe, spanning all of France and a bit scattered in Spain, Germany and Switzerland. The Veela group who came to Hogwarts consisted of a handful of students out of the twenty-five of the Beauxbatons delegation, including Alexia, Gabrielle and herself. They all already knew about Hermione, which is why they have been giving her a wide berth to let her woo her beloved because usually, Veelas tend to walk in packs. They all congratulated her and wished her luck with her mate.
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The rest of the week passed in a similar way with Fleur having her regular meetings and training sessions with Hermione but also adding a bit of personal training at night in the Forbidden forest, with the permission of Madame Maxime, of course.
The runs and surprise encounters with the creatures that resided in the forest was good training for her. She also loved stretching her legs in the forest, something she hadn't done for a while. It helped get her blood pumping and sharpened her reflexes in avoiding obstacles quickly. The forest was in itself a huge obstacle course with deadly beasts. She even had a run-in with the centaurs. She had bowed to them in respect and peace, after all, she was in their territory and after they had identified her as a Veela, the centaurs told her to use the terrain for training as much as she wanted. It was because the majority of Veelas live in forests and thus they are at peace with a lot of creatures and beasts residing within, like centaurs, unicorns, fairies and more. They share their living space with them and go to their aid when they are in need.
The week passed fast enough and Fleur found herself already in the next week. It was Tuesday and the First Task was scheduled on Friday afternoon. She had just found out from her Headmistress that the tasks would be dragons and she was walking to the library to tell Hermione about it.
She found the Gryffindor at her usual table, scribbling on a long piece of parchment with her friend Harry with her.
"Fleur!" Hermione had lifted her head and seen the blonde approaching.
"Ello 'Ermione, Ello 'Arry. 'Ow are you today?" asked Fleur, sliding into the bench next to Hermione.
"Hello Fleur, I'm not so good, nervous about the upcoming task. What about you?" asked Harry. Hermione had told him about her friendship with the French girl. He had been happy that the Gryffindor had apologised for her previous rude behaviour.
"I came to talk about zat, actually," announced Fleur, gathering the full attention of the Gryffindors, "I've just learnt that ze First Task would be dragons. Zey 'ave three types, ze Common Welsh Green, ze Chinese Fireball and ze 'Ungarian 'Orntail. We will pick one each at random."
"Dragons!" whispered Hermione forcefully, "Dragons!? What are they thinking?! Dragons are dangerous! The Hungarian Horntail is known to be the most vicious of them!"
Fleur just nodded. "Not that I'm not happy about the information but Fleur, aren't we competition?" asked Harry sceptically.
"'Ermione told me about ze circumstances of your entry in ze tournament and I 'ave told her I will 'elp you." Hermione nodded in agreement with a smile.
"Oh! That's great! I totally need all the help I can get," exclaimed Harry, relieved that he could now prepare for the task in the short time that he had left instead of just going in blindly.
"Ze Champions are allowed special permission to skip classes zis week, Harry. We should meet for ze rest of ze days and I can 'elp you wiz what I know about zose dragons."
"You would do that?! Not only tell me about the First Task when you had a clear advantage if you had kept it for yourself but also help me to defeat them?" asked Harry, astounded.
"Oui. After all, ze friends of 'Ermione are my friends," replied Fleur, waving away his astonishment. "We are also allowed to take a friend wiz us to help. Maybe 'Ermione would like to come help as well? Willing to skip classes, 'Ermione?" teased the blonde.
"Haha, telling Hermione to skip classes is like telling her to forgo magic!" laughed Harry at the fish impression Hermione was making.
Hermione scowled, "If it is to help you with the tournament, I wouldn't care. After all, this is a dangerous competition where you guys could die! Of course, I'd help to keep you both safe."
Fleur smiled at the determination shining in the brown eyes she loved so much, "so it iz settled zen. 'Ermione, do you know a place we can train?" asked Fleur, pondering "I don't want to train outside and give Krum hints of ze First Task if by chance he doesn't know. It's still a competition between me and him"
"The Room of Requirement!" Hermione voiced out. Harry nodded.
"Where iz zat? Never 'eard about it"
"Meet us after breakfast tomorrow and I'll show you," said Hermione, "It is hard to explain."
"Ok. Right now, let's get you some books on zose dragons to learn more about zem and zeir weaknesses." Fleur proposed.
"Good idea!" replied Hermione. The Library? That was her domain! And with that, the trio went to peruse the bookcases for said books. By bedtime, all three had read enough about the dragons to have an idea of what they were going to face.
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The morning was cold the next day, the mist hiding the horizon of the Black Lake. Fleur pulled her cloak tighter and walked to the Great Hall for breakfast.
She chatted with her sister and cousin throughout the meal while sending glances towards her beloved brunette. After breakfast, the hall emptied fairly quickly with students hurrying to classes.
Hearing footsteps from behind her, she turned and saw Hermione and Harry approaching.
"Good morning" greeted the duo simultaneously, like twins.
Chuckling, Fleur got up and replied, "Good morning to both of you. Shall we go?" She and Harry followed Hermione through the castle to a wall where she watched in curiosity as a door morphed into the bricks.
Walking inside, she was pleased to see it was a training room with enchanted practice targets.
"This is the Room of Requirement, it appears when you need it, shifting its interior to suit the needs of the person" explained Hermione, "Dobby told me about it last year."
"Amazing. It will do great for ze training. Shall we start?" Fleur asked.
The Gryffindors nodded excitedly.
"Ok. So we will start wiz ze Common Welsh Green. It iz ze easiest of zem all. From what you must 'ave read yesterday, you know zat zis dragon 'as two pair of legs and a pair of wings. Now ze two pair of legs make it very fast on ze ground so it likes to use zis to its advantage and charge at its opponent. You 'ave to avoid it at all cost. It also 'as a short fire breath range. Ze good thing about zis dragon iz zat it 'as 'ard skin that is resistant to physical attacks but weak against magic. So we are going to practice a sleep spell zat will make quick work of it."
Taking her wand from her belt, she demonstrated a gentle wand movement. "Now try doing this a few times. Make sure ze wand movement iz slow and lazy as you are trying to make something sleepy. Ze movement 'as to be somewhat 'ypnotic" she explained.
"Alright," replied Harry, copying Fleur's wand movements. When Fleur was satisfied with their wand work after a few minutes, she resumed her lesson, "now let me demonstrate." Repeating the movements, Fleur pointed her wand at a practice target and shouted "Somnum!" Blue sparks flew from her wand to hit the enchanted dummy target which fell down and started snoring before re-righting itself in its place a few seconds after.
For the next two hour, the room was filled with shouts of 'Somnum' and sparks of blue till both Fleur and Hermione were satisfied with Harry's spell casting. "Zat was very good! Now we move to ze Chinese Fireball. Ze Fireball used to attack villages, burning everything on its path. Because it iz highly resistant to physical and magical attacks, the Chinese had to come up with something to stop it. Zey found out zat ze Fireball 'as very sensitive 'earing and thus invented a firework spell zat confuses and scares ze dragon away."
"We read about it though the spell incantation was in Chinese. No help to us" said Harry.
"Yeah, I can't read Chinese. If the book had actually given any indication of how it was pronounced, it would have helped tremendously," sighed Hermione, thinking that maybe she should try learning a Chinese language in the next holiday break, though there were different ones... Mandarin, Cantonese…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Fleur, "what are you guys talking about?" she scrunched her face, confused, "zere iz a latin translation to it"
"Really? What is it?" Hermione was eager to know.
Amused at the eagerness always present in Hermione when there was something new to learn, "zis one is a brisk wand movement" she demonstrated a fast Z movement with a jab forward towards the target, "Ignis Opus!" A stream of bright multi-coloured sparks erupted from her wand, encircling the target and exploding around it like fireworks.
"Wow!" exclaimed Harry, "Is that what Fred and George use in their firework tricks?"
"I have no idea," Hermione replied, already eagerly stepping towards her target and trying the spell, Harry joining her. Fleur walked between them, correcting their stance and wand movement. Three hours later, the two Gryffindors were adept at casting the two new spells.
"I'm tired" groaned Harry, sitting on the floor, "my arms are sore."
"It's already past lunch" commented Hermione checking her watch. "I'm hungry", blushing as her stomach growled in agreement.
Laughing, Fleur replied "I think two new spells are enough for today. We should go 'ave lunch. Zen we can 'ave some rest and come back to keep perfecting zem."
The tired pair readily agreed and that's how they all ended up in the Hogwarts Kitchen with a serving of beef stew while they conversed with Dobby.
"Durmstrang trashed Hufflepuff, Fleur. That means the Semi-Finals are Gryffindor-Beauxbatons and Ravenclaw-Durmstrang," informed Harry as he finished his food.
"Hmm indeed, we 'ave some time before ze matches though, I believe ze Semi-Finals are set after ze Second Task?" she asked.
Harry nodded, "It is. We won't go easy on you!" he grinned.
"I 'ave heard you are ze Seeker of ze Gryffindor team, it'll be a good competition between ze two of us," Fleur grinned back, accepting the challenge.
After eating, they were all back to the Room of Requirement, resuming their spell casting practice until dinner time. Fleur instructed them to keep anything further for tomorrow and to go to sleep early tonight as tomorrow, she was going to practise harder spells. The Gryffindor pair agreed easily, feeling drained from their energy and magic from today's training session.
As Hermione settled on her bed, she felt a bit less anxious and a lot more confident in Harry's participation in the Tournament, now that Fleur was actively helping. It felt good to know that her best friend had an ally in the Tournament itself. She had been worried about not being able to do much from the sidelines but now, she would support the two with everything she had.