On Teenagers & Love
a story by anamatics, beta'ed by HyperCaz
Chapter Five - On Falling In Love
Author's Notes: You guys are amazing! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. :)
This is the second-to-last section in this portion of the fic. There's another section, taking place during Order of the Phoenix that I have yet to complete. I am currently half-way through it and it is already as long as this piece. So expect some delay, I will not post it before it is complete, much like this story.
There is a bit of French in this chapter, it is mostly of the 'who is she, she's a friend of Fleur's, her name is Hermione' variety.
A word of warning for the story - there will be a good but of underage sexual content over the course of the story. Hermione is fifteen during Goblet of Fire and Fleur is seventeen, while they age up over the course of it, I feel it is necessary to warn the readership who might find such sexual situations triggering.
There are also some mentions of general World War Two history and aspects of the Holocaust.
"Put it on my life baby
I can make you feel right baby
I can't promise tomorrow
But I promise tonight"
-"Give Me Everything Tonight"
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." – Self Reliance
The first time Hermione says 'I love you' to Fleur is when she's being carried up to the hospital wing after the Third Task. They're all shaken and rattled and horrified about what just happened. Fleur's bloody parents are standing right next to Hermione and she says it anyway. Fleur squeezes her hand and they let Madam Pomfrey take her behind a curtain.
Cedric Diggory is dead.
Hermione cannot stop repeating the thought in her head. She's terrified that it could have been Harry, that it could have been Fleur. She can't believe that the Ministry – that Dumbledore could actually let something like this happen. There's no way. He couldn't have known, but the betrayal of her one safe haven is everywhere around her. She's shaking and she can't stop and she blurts it out to Fleur as they help her up to the hospital wing to have the burns on her back and arms looked at.
Fleur's parents are either too distracted or don't speak enough English to react to what she's saying. Gabrielle is trailing behind them all, her eyes full of tears, and Hermione recalls that upon her words, it is the first time she's seen the little girl smile all day.
Thank goodness for small victories.
Madam Pomfrey helps Fleur onto one of the beds and gestures for them to all go and sit on another, at the far end of the room. She pulls the curtain shut and Hermione's last glimpse of Fleur is those pained blue eyes searching for her own.
Gabrielle is crying.
Hermione wants to go to her and hold her and tell her that Madam Pomfrey is the best in the world at what she does and that her sister will be good as new in the morning. She doesn't move. She cannot. Fleur's parents are right there, staring at her curiously.
"'oo is she, Gabrielle?" Fleur's father asks and Hermione's cheeks burn. She can't look at them, and instead focuses her attention on Madam Pomfrey's shadow moving behind the curtain over Fleur's bed.
She knows she looks strange, her tear stained dirty face and overly frizzy hair from the beginnings of the heat of the summer a stark contrast to Fleur's perfectly put-together family. Hermione has never felt so self-conscious in her life. She wraps her arms around herself and tries to stop shaking.
"Elle est une amie de Fleur," Gabrielle says hurriedly, her voice betraying the tears that are still in her eyes. "Elle s'appelle 'ermione."
"Une amie? Fleur n'a pas dit…" Fleur's father trails off, his eyes burning holes in the back of Hermione's thin sweater.
She turns, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. "Hello," she says. She wants to try speaking the few French phrases that Fleur has managed to teach her, but she doesn't trust her voice right now. She's so full of fear for so many things.
"Bonjour." Fleur's mother looks just like Fleur. It's striking. Hermione remembers reading in the paper that Fleur had told Mr. Olivander and, by extension, Rita Skeeter, that her grandmother was a Veela. It explains how Fleur's mother looks so inhumanly beautiful, almost glowing in the dim light of the infirmary. "It is wonderful to meet a friend of Fleur."
Her accent is still there, but nowhere near as thick as Fleur's or Gabrielle's. Hermione remembers Fleur saying that her mother was a liaison at the French Ministry of Magic, which explains how her English is so much better than her children's.
Hermione forces a smile across her face. "Likewise." She holds out her hand, "My name is Hermione Granger, I'm a fourth year student here."
Fleur's father reaches out to grasp Hermione's hand and the door to the infirmary is once again pushed open and Dumbledore sweeps into the room, Snape and McGonagall in tow, along with Harry and Ron – both of whom look as bewildered as Hermione feels.
Madam Pomfrey appears from behind the screen and gives them an apologetic look before launching into a tirade about Harry constantly getting injured and how it's a crime against humanity how accident prone he is. Hermione wants to laugh, but she can't bring herself to do so. Nothing seems very funny anymore.
Cedric Diggory is dead.
Harry survived the attack and came back saying Voldemort has returned.
Everything is going to change now.
db
The first time Fleur kisses Hermione in public is also the first time she says I love you back. She's about to leave, to head back to France and to take her exams and belatedly take her Apparition test (her eighteenth birthday was right before the Third Task and Hermione remembers it fondly).
The end of term feast had been a somber affair. Hermione had sat with Ron and Harry and had watched as they raised their glasses as one in Cedric's name. It was all so surreal. When Bill and Mr. Weasley had said that they would be having an exciting year, they had not meant this.
Fleur finds her after the feast is over and they're all heading back to their dormitories to finish packing before the send-off ceremony later that afternoon. Hermione is lingering, talking to Luna Lovegood and Ginny in the entrance hall about some strange new creature that Luna has probably made up on the spot just to annoy them both. She feels a hand on her shoulder and turns to see Fleur's face peering at her from underneath that ridiculous Beauxbatons hat.
"Do you 'ave a minute?" Fleur asks as Ginny gapes at Hermione and Luna seems completely preoccupied with something just off to Fleur's left.
Hermione nods. "Sure," she says. "I'll catch up with you on the train, Gin?"
Ginny nods mutely at her, and pulls Luna way from them, back up the stairs and towards the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor dormitories. Hermione watches them go, waiting until they are fully out of earshot before she turns to Fleur.
"What is it?" she asks. Fleur usually does not seek her out like this, save for that one time when Hermione had not shown up in the library and Fleur had gotten concerned. Hermione was still annoyed by that, to some extent, but the aftermath had been well-worth the annoyance.
Fleur presses a piece of paper into her hand, and wraps her arms around Hermione's shorter shoulders in a tight embrace. "I am going to miss you," Fleur mutters in Hermione's ear.
She can feel the eyes of the school watching her, and she decides that she does not care. She wraps her arms around Fleur and holds on as though Fleur is her only anchor to solid ground. She's made her feelings clear to Fleur, despite her parents being there and the subsequent awkwardness that had caused.
Fleur smells of sunlight and of the sea – scents that one does not usually smell in the north of Scotland – and Hermione inhales deeply. "I'll write every day," she promises, her voice thick with tears she did not realize she was holding back. She does not want Fleur to leave. She does not know if she'll ever see Fleur again. She does not want this… whatever it is between them… to end. "I'll give you my information so you can write me back."
They pull apart, Fleur's hands resting on Hermione's shoulders. "'ermione, tu es mon amour. Please do not zink zat zis… finira – will end." Fleur leans down, brushing her lips against Hermione's. Her mouth is open, shocked at Fleur's boldness. She supposes that the school would have found out eventually, and she'd rather not have them doubt her resolve or her sexuality. Harry and Ron already know, and they don't care, which is all that truly matters to Hermione.
"I love you," Fleur says, pulling away after holding the kiss for a moment. "Je suis… I am sorry zat it took me so long to say zis."
Hermione laughs and throws her arms around Fleur's neck. "I love you too, Fleur."
