Fleur had woken up startled. She felt like her mate was in distress. She didn't know it was even possible as they didn't take the step that would forge that specific bound. She forced herself to breathe deeply, trying to calm herself down. She noticed her night vision was better. Obviously, the veela had woken her up feeling Hermione's pain somehow. She got up as soon as she heard the fireplace. She was still agitated, but another deep breath told her that who entered her house was Ginny. Hearing the footsteps stop in front of her door, she opened it and faced a stunned ginger.
"Que s'est-il passé?" She asked without thinking.
"Uh?" The confusion on the redhead's face made her realize she had just spoken in French.
"What 'appened?" She translated.
"Fleur?" Oh, The veela eyes… Merde! She took a deep breath.
"Oui. I guess you've never seen my veela so closely… What 'appened, Ginny?" The blonde felt a little annoyed she had to ask a third time but understood the shock on the other girl's face.
"Right. Come, she had a really bad nightmare and woke up screaming, thrashing around and crying. I guessed it was better to call you because Lun is currently in the same state…"
They flooed back to Hogwarts. As soon as they stepped into the common room, they heard the brunette start screaming once again. Fleur ran towards the screaming.
"Merde! What zee fuck?" She exclaimed as soon as she saw the blood on the sheets and on her girlfriend's arm. She moved fast and sat by the screaming girl on the bed. She exhaled some soothing thrall she hoped would work on the brunette.
"Apparently, Bellatrix carved her arm with a cursed knife," Ginny explained from the door, she looked like she was trying not to flinch.
"I got 'er, Ginny. Zank you. Go look after 'arry and Luna…" She had to wake the lioness up to take a look on her arm. So she began to carefully make the girl open her eyes.
"Fleur?" She had a confused look as sleep hadn't left her eyes yet.
"Oui, mon ange. Ginny went to get me as soon as you fell asleep again." She answered softly, kissing her head. "Now, let me clean your arm." Hermione did as she told her but was clearly afraid of her reaction. She was sure to be careful so the girl wouldn't feel any pain. Before she could make sense of what was written, Hermione flinched and retrieved her arm, sniffing a little. "Hey, let me clean it…" She asked softly once again. The arm was once again in front of her. With a spell, all the dried blood was gone and she could read the awful word. "Merde!" She gasped. With another spell, she cleaned the wound and softly kissed her. She noticed the blood wouldn't stop running. "Shit"
"The blood will only stop in a few days." Hermione offered in a small voice.
"'ow does eet feel?"
"Hurts like hell," Hermione answered at earnest. Fleur flinched at the thought of her girlfriend being in such pain.
She tried a spell she had learned after she got into a fight with another veela and had her arms scratched by her talons. Veela talon's wounds would only close with time. No magic would work. That's what her mother had said, at least. "Better?" The girl nodded. She placed new bandages over it and kissed it once again. Fleur got up so she could close the door but stopped in her tracks as the girl winced.
"Where are you going?"
Hearing Hermione's voice so broken and small made her heart shatter. "Close the door, mon ange. Just a second." Once the door was closed, she practically raced back towards the bed. Once she was comfortable, holding the lioness, she kissed her head and once again wished her good night.
She woke up with the alarm the lioness somehow managed to make work inside the school. Turning it off, she thanked Merlin the lioness hadn't wake up. She conjured her Patronus and send it with an explanation to the headmistress about her presence and why she thought it would be better for her not to go to class that Friday. She received an answer quickly and sent another message to Bill, explaining her absence and asking him to explain it to the minister and the head of their department. After Bill's Patronus came with an answer, she snuggled back into Hermione and fell asleep again.
A couple of hours later Fleur was awake again, she was obviously concerned with her lioness. She didn't know what had transpired that damned night but it was clearly awful. She felt bad for making the girl go through this again to write the reports and a little sad she didn't say something to her, but she could obviously understand. Fleur and her inner veela wished they could bring the mad witch back to life only to be able to torture her and kill her again. But she decided that the next best thing would be to bring the owner of the mansion to justice, maybe a little scattered. She was deep in thoughts but the whole time she held Hermione close and soothed her hair. And then, after deciding what she would do revenge the sleeping girl, she lost herself admiring her girlfriend. She was counting the freckles over her nose, almost too lost in her beauty.
"It's rude to stare…" She started hearing Hermione's hoarse voice. It was clear to her its hoarseness was due to both sleep and screaming. Fleur grimaced as soon as she remembered the girl's scream. She opened her eyes (she didn't notice she had closed them) looked at her girlfriend's face and automatically smiled.
"Uhm, I was only admiring your beauty…" She leaned and kissed the Gryffindor softly. "'ow are you feeling?"
"Like I've been run over by a truck." The woman smiled at her despite her answer. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining…"
"Your ginger friend brought me in zee middle of zee night to take care of you." She smiled softly, knowing that the first time she had answered it the lioness was quite sleepy and under heavy thrall.
"I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was…" The lioness said, looking away from her.
"Don't you dare to say zis." She moved Hermione's head so she was looking into her eyes. "Look at me." She asked softly. "You are one of zee strongest people I've ever met. Don't ever zink less of you because of you 'ad a nightmare. Especially given zee circumstances." She said as the woman complied.
"Sorry…" Hermione spoke in a small voice.
Fleur kissed the lioness on the top of her head. "No need to apologize," She fought to refrain herself from saying the three words that were on her mind as the brunette buried her face in her neck.
"I figure you want to know what happened." She spoke into her neck. Fleur was almost certain that she only managed to hear her because of her enhanced hearing (veela treat).
"I do, but only when you are ready. And I know you have written everything." She felt the need to hold the lioness closer and did so. "I can simply read it." She felt the girl shake her head.
"I should tell you. It might help me with…" She trailed out, remembering the nightmare.
"Recovering." At that point, they heard a faint knock on the door. "Oui?"
"It's Ginny."
"Come in, Gin," Hermione said, trying to move so she could face the newcomer. Fleur made sure to hold her near, her veela wasn't really ready to let her move away. The lioness snickered. "I'll not go away." She whispered, so only Fleur could hear her. Before the ginger knocked, she had most of her body over the blonde. She relaxed a bit and the brunette moved so she was on her side, still on the veela's arms and her body was still in contact with her. After she felt Hermione's head settle on her chest, she looked at the door. Ginny was smiling faintly.
"Thanks for making sure we would be dismissed…" The redhead said looking at her. She simply nodded. "Uhm, Dobby actually left quite a feast downstairs. Are you hungry?" As if to answer the ginger's question Hermione's stomach grumbled loudly.
"We will be there in a minute." The brunette answered and their friend was off. "You can hold me downstairs too, babe." Hermione eyed her, knowingly. Fleur felt as if she was reading her as an open book. Also, that made her inner veela calm down, she wouldn't have to let her go for too long. She felt her eyes swift quickly and then come back to normal almost to show Hermione that the veela had understood. "I love both colors of your eyes." The lioness stated. A second later she blushed, after realizing what she had said. Fleur simply beamed and blushed a little.
"I love yours too…" She managed to whisper before kissing her lovingly.
They entered the living room together, Fleur thanked the magic school silently for having large stairways otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hold the lioness next to her on the way down.
"Morning," Luna said as soon as she saw them. She was sat between Harry and Ginny, that was quite odd but the events from the night before made her dismiss the questions coming into her mind.
"Morning…" Hermione answered as Fleur said Bonjour.
They were all a little somber and saying that about Luna was quite a feat as far as she could remember. After they silently had what Fleur decided to call a brunch (after all it was almost noon) they sat down and enjoyed each others company. After a long silence (none of them really willing to begin a conversation), Fleur quietly asked one of the things that were on her mind.
"Luna, 'ow are you feeling?" The silence was now carried with worry, from herself and from the others in the room.
"I'm quite sore. It was really vivid." The younger blonde answered quietly and leaned on Ginny. She felt her girlfriend nod. They were sharing a couch as usual and the brunette was leaning on her, her head on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry you 'ad to go zrough zis." She said in earnest.
"These were awful times," Ginny said solemnly, clearly remembering her own experiences. Fleur shifted, remembering hers.
"I… I was taken by them before school began…" Luna began talking, all their eyes were on her. They were all surprised she had begun to talk. "Shortly after Harry's birthday, my dad left for one of his trips. He never really engaged the war. I was alone home when they came. I managed to stun two of them before they reached me. There were five of them. I had the impression I was going to die that day." Fleur felt the silence stretch and saw Ginny hold the Ravenclaw and Harry scoop nearer her, both obviously trying to reassure her and give her some comfort. "They threw me in that dungeon as soon as we got to the mansion. Every day they would fetch me and torture me a little. At first, I think they believed I knew where you were. But then it was simply for fun, so they could laugh a bit." The young blonde was crying the whole time she spoke. Fleur saw the redhead start stroking her head and Harry hold her hand. All of them stayed in silence, waiting for her to finish. To get that stories out of her. None of them could really have even a slight idea of what she had gone through. "They would take turns, none of them really cared if I died. Especially after their blackmail didn't work the way they wanted." Hermione motioned to say something but was cut short by the blonde. "It was not your fault. I actually still can't believe he did it to you. He was too selfish."
"'e ees you father, it's understandable. Even expected" Fleur said, thinking about what she would do in his position.
"If Tom Riddle had won the war I would have died anyway. He chose not to fight for what he believed in." Fleur saw a glint of anger pass in the girl's eyes. "Anyway, I lost count of how many days I was kept there. Then you showed up. I had almost lost hope when I saw you and Ron I knew we would get out." Luna seemed to be relieved. It was obvious she was, honestly. She kept silently crying into Ginny's shoulder. "When I heard Hermione, though, I was in agony. I knew what she was going through. It's something I don't want not even for my biggest enemy." She snuggled closer to Ginny, seeking comfort and signing she had finished speaking.
Instinctively, Fleur held Hermione closer. She didn't expect anyone to speak anytime soon. It surprised her when the brunette she held begun to move so she could speak.
"Not long after Mr. Lovegood, we crossed ways with a group of snatchers. I did the best I could to disguise Harry but I didn't think I would have to disguise myself or Ron. But with the time we had, and Harry being the only one able to really finish the war…" Hermione struggled, thinking about what had happened. She felt Fleur's thumb draw soothing patterns on her side. "If not for me being spotted on the Daily Prophet, we would have been free."
"You had no way to know, 'Mione," Ginny said, trying to calm her. She felt Fleur agree.
"They decided to bring us to the Malfoy Mansion, the headquarters apparently." She continued after a deep breath. "There was obviously a big commotion when we got there, but they had no way to know if Harry was indeed himself. Draco could have, he knew it was us but he said nothing. Thanks to him we are still here. Bellatrix saw the sword of Gryffindor and went nuts. More than she already was. When Greyback said they found it in my purse she snapped. Harry and Ron were thrown in the cell and she kept me there." She took another deep breath, trying to calm herself down. The simple memory made her body ache. "She crucioed me, asking me how I got the sword. When she failed to get an answer, she did it again. I could see the stoic faces of every Death Eater there, especially Malfoy's. Draco and Narcissa were the only ones I could see trying to contain their disgust. I think she realized I wouldn't say anything around the tenth crucio. By then I was certain I would die, lying on that floor. Or lose my mind at the very least. I could hear Ron screaming. It was then that she decided to step up her game. She started to make small cuts on none vital parts of my body." Hermione felt Fleur shake. She knew the woman was basically in agony simply hearing what had happened. "I'm sorry, Fleur…" She said in a whisper only she was meant to hear. The veela kissed her on the head and shook her head, a sign she understood (don't worry, I'm ok). "She alternated between the cuts and cruciatus for some time. I was actually almost losing myself. Then she decided to brand me." She heard her girlfriend whine lowly. She kept the moment away from her mind so the wound wouldn't get worse. "I was certain I would die. She was hovering above me with that knife, I knew it was cursed. I could feel the dark magic on my skin. A little while after she branded me, Harry and Ronald showed up and she held the blade announcing she would kill me. Dobby made the chandelier fall over us, when she tried to flee it she pushed me forward and I went out of range. Dobby took us out of there." She only realized she had been crying when she felt Fleur wiped away her tears and embrace her. They sat there, in silence. Hermione managed to calm down thanks to Fleur (the soothing patterns were really working) a few minutes after. Her body still hurt as hell. She should probably go to the hospital wing as soon as possible. Knowing Harry, he didn't want to say anything because he felt like he had no right to feel bad, given he hadn't endured the torture curse. After a few more minutes of silence, she was resolved to make him talk. It had been good to say everything out loud and it sure would help him. Only when she opened her mouth to say something, Luna talked.
"Harry, you should…"
"I know. I just don't feel like I have the right to feel half as bad as you…"
"Harry…"
"Ok, ok. After we got caught by the snatchers I had no idea of what Hermione had done with me. My face, actually. I kept quiet when we were at the Manor, I struggled to. But I did. I knew that if I handed over my identity it would be all lost. So I tried to control myself and Ron. Hearing Hermione screams was agony. Not close to what she was enduring but agony. I knew what was happening, I knew how it felt. I flinched every time I saw a red light illuminate the cell. I can't say it was torture, but it was very close to it. When the flashing stopped I was relieved, only to hear Hermione scream again. It was then that I remembered about the twin mirror. The snatchers hadn't found it, it was inside my sock. I had to give it a try. I called for help and a few minutes later Dobby appeared. He took Luna and Griphook out of there. Pettigrew showed up to see what was happening and we managed to get his wand from him and right after his makeshift silver hand choked him. We heard another scream and broke out. Only to see Hermione being held by Lestrange." She could see his face, he had been fighting his tears since he began speaking but when he stopped talking, he broke down. She saw Luna shift a little so she was holding him, both girls were trying to soothe him.
"Dobby?" She called, feeling her friend's eyes on her as soon as she spoke up. The elf appeared in front of her.
"What Dobby can do for you?" He looked at her but then looked around. "Is Harry Potter okay?" He squealed as he saw Harry's state. "Are you?" he added as he saw that everyone in the room was rather shaken.
"We will be, Dobby. Thanks for asking." She managed to smile at him, reassuringly (she hoped). "Could you please bring us some calming tea? I think it's in order." The house elf nodded. A couple of minutes later, he was back with the tea and some biscuits.
"Dobby will let the Headmistress know you are awake. She asked us to do so." He said before he left with a pop.
"Thank you for the idea, 'Mione," Ginny said. To Hermione, she and her own girlfriend were on the verge of breaking down. Fleur had grown silence and her hold on her was quite strong and Ginny was obviously struggling to soothe her friend and boyfriend and ignoring how bad she felt herself.
AN: Heeeey! I think it's actually quite cannon what I wrote (I tried my best at least...). In my research says the carving that Bella did on her arm is actually film-cannon, it was written to be more dramatic... I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as much as possible, at least. I certainly felt awful writing what they went through.
So, my pre-written chapters are almost gone... I'll probably begin to post once a week now... (sorry)
Please review!
Thanks for reading!
;3 Luv yah
see you soon...
For those who live in the areas affected by all those disasters, I hope you are alright and safe...
PS: Oh, right, my other story is up. So go read it (I managed to keep it shortish) hope you like, please review it!
PPS: If you feel like sending me requests suggestions or prompts, feel free to reach me by PM or email me: celticdaughterfics (gmail)
