On Teenagers and Love

a story by anamatics

part three - the fog

Chapter 27 - On Grandmothers


Fleur's grandmother invites herself over for the next two weeks. Hermione finds she likes her far more than she likes Fleur's mother. Apolline's coldness has softened somewhat, however, it is only once she sees mother and daughter interacting that she thinks she understands why Apolline told her that she really has no say over the decisions that are made regarding her daughter. Her mother, Fleur's grandmother, was a rail thin woman with long silvery-white hair that seemed to glow in certain light, moved through Fleur's family home with an eerie grace that reasserted to Hermione that, despite the woman's human appearance, Fleur's grandmother was anything but human. She was a full veela, and she held the attention of a room effortlessly.

The first night before dinner Hermione was so on edge that she could barely speak following her conversation with Apolline. Fleur's father, at least, had an easy smile and seemed to understand that this particular series of interactions was probably uncomfortable for Hermione. He sat next to her, and, although his English was not as good as Fleur's or her mother's, he tried to put Hermione at ease. She told him about her studies, her interest in arithmancy and theoretical charm work. He suggested she start to subscribe to academic journals coming out of the English-speaking institutions in Germany and Paris, after Hermione confessed that while she spoke French alright at this point, her reading was miserable. "There are," Fleur's father said at length, "translation spells, however they do tend to muddle up any discussion of statistics."

Hermione thanked him, and when Fleur's grandmother deposited herself in front of Hermione to "get a good look at her face" Hermione held the older woman's gaze evenly. This was an evaluation, to assess if Hermione was worthy of Fleur, even though Hermione's fairly certain that all of Fleur's books on veela and her own research pointing to there being no real way off this path once it's started down short of complete rejection.

"Ma fille dit que votre magie est devenue sauvage," Fleur's grandmother spoke English very poorly, so she when she continued on in French with a considerable decrease in the rapidness she had been speaking in to Apolline and Fleur mere moments before, Hermione was grateful. "Ma petite Fleur aussi."

"Est-ce pas normale?" Hermione fidgeted with the hem of her jumper. There was nothing in the books that said this was possible. Was it the stress of the brewing war, the distance between them? The interference of the vault Fleur spent half her days underground examining?

"Non," Fleur's grandmother answered with some gravity. "Ce n'est pas normale."

It was not long after this conversation that Fleur's grandmother invited herself to stay for the duration of Hermione's stay. "Je vais vous observer tous les deux." She announced the next morning at breakfast. Hermione had merely nodded and Fleur had demanded to know if her grandmother intended to watch them at all times. The resulting raised eyebrow brought a scowl to Fleur's face and Fleur warding her bedroom door at night.

On the third day, Hermione finally relaxed enough to converse with Fleur's grandmother freely, telling her about the time she and Fleur spent together, explaining what it felt like to be far away from Fleur. She doesn't mention the time Professor McGonagall caught them snogging during fourth year, but she can tell by the fond smile that drifts across Fleur's grandmother's face that this is exactly the sort of interaction she expected of Fleur. She watches Hermione like Hermione watches her. It's a strange sort of scrutiny, but one Hermione welcomes. She wants to be accepted by these people, and Fleur's family, despite being very French and very confusing at time, is starting to make her feel that way.