As the week passed, Hermione's nervousness diminished while Fleur's began to rise. The blonde began to feel the symptoms of said jitters when the brunette had beamed at her while they floo called and informed her that the dinner was set to happen on the next Saturday. The lioness was clearly over her initial anxiety after all parties had agreed on the meeting, as she had informed Fleur after the dinner news.
Fleur was honestly almost a nervous wreck when she got out of work on the next Friday. She constantly argued with herself that there was no logical need for such a state, they already knew her. But part of her agreed with the Grangers, they hadn't met after she started dating Hermione. She desperately wanted to impress them, they were her family for Merlin' sake. She smiled while she packed two possible outfits for her to wear at the dinner along with comfortable clothes to spend the weekend at the school if they were to spend it there. It took no time as she had already picked the outfits. She grabbed her working bag and stepped into the fireplace.
She was greeted by her beaming girlfriend, alone. She was a bit later than usual as she had to stay at the ministry for longer. The trio had already gone to dinner. They ate together as always and set out to work.
"This will probably be the best-reported war ever..." Hermione said, reviewing and filing one of the stacks of reports they had around them.
"Oui... We actually 'ave reports on almost every front..." She nodded, going through another stack. "grand-mère says zee Veela clans who got involved are reporting too. She 'as met every 'ead around Europe and zey decided to keep a European history library for zee future Veela..."
"That's awesome!"
"She reached today to tell me zee news. I knew you would like to know. grand-mère ees organizing everything so zee library will be under our Clan care, mostly." She informed with a smile, already knowing what the lioness was dying to ask. "You will 'ave free access to eet, as my mate."
"Every mate will?" Hermione asked after beaming at the new information.
"Non. Zee other clans didn't agree with free access to all zee non-veela mates. Only zose mated to zee 'eads of zee clans and zeir immediate family 'ave permission. Maman managed to reason with zem to allow zee mates with similar experience as ours to 'ave access too." Fleur explained. The lioness nodded and seems to be in deep thought. "Most of zee Clans still remember 'ow we were treated by wizards and still are. We are guarded for a reason, ma Reine."
"I know, love."
"I'm sorry we can't make eet accessible for everyone."
"Fleur, I understand and respect it. I know from the little I've read about your kind history that you have more than one motive to be that way." Hermione smiled at her and caressed her cheek. "I'm actually honoured to be able to see it. I was thinking of how I'll be able to read everything I want to." She laughed and made Fleur swoon.
"Oh, no!" Ginny exclaimed as soon as the trio went past the painting, "Let's go somewhere else, they are heart-eyeing each other!" She dramatically turned around only to be held by Harry and Luna, who were laughing.
"You speak as if I don't have to endure you doing the same exact thing with Har and Lun! As far as I can say, it's even worse. Since it's every day..." Hermione answered rolling her eyes. Fleur watched the banter amused.
"I'd say eet's worse because eet's with two people..." Fleur added smiling.
"Fleur, please don't encourage them..." Harry pleaded. "So, you finished for the day?"
"I guess..." Hermione answered looking at Fleur, who nodded.
The French returned the reports to the bag they were storing it and the couple moved to occupy their usual couch while the trio sat on the other side by side. An hour into their usual catch up with the blonde, the couple had laid down and the two girls from the trio had their heads on Harry's lap. Fleur was on her back, holding Hermione (who was snuggled to her side, talking to her brother). The blonde was actually lost in thought as she loved having her girlfriend in her arms. The two other girls seemed to have dozed off.
"We should call it a night, these two are far gone..." Harry said when he and Hermione reached the end of their discussion about one of the books Tonks had sent them to study.
"Yeah, I guess I could use some sleep too..." Fleur felt her caress her hip and looked at her smiling. "Let's go? The bed is quite more comfortable than here..."
The couple said goodnight to Harry and the girls, who were leaning on each other to be able to make it to the bedroom. The man was smiling at the scene clearly amused at how sleepy his girlfriends were. Hermione and Fleur prepared to bed and snuggled into each other.
"I never asked, how are you?" Hermione spoke into Fleur's neck curve. The blonde knew her girlfriend was aware of how anxious she was and understood the brunette simply wanted to make sure she knew she could talk to her.
"I 'ave to admit zat I'm quite nervous about meeting your parents..."
"Oh, seems like the tables turned!" The brunette laughed, leaning away from her to look into her eyes. Fleur rolled her eyes at the tease. "You don't need to, love. They already love you. You make me happy..."
"I do?" Fleur decided that the best way to forget her anxiety state was to enjoy being with her mate.
"Yep. Very much so." Hermione must have caught up on her tactic and leaned her head up to kiss Fleur. The blonde kissed her back, smiling into it.
"You make me 'apply too."
"I love you, Fleur."
"I love you, 'ermione..."She resumed the kissing as she couldn't focus on anything but her lips. Hermione hummed and deepened the kiss, wanting to taste the blonde.
They woke up and Fleur was immediately anxious. She tried to hide it but the way her brunette kept close to her made it clear that their connection didn't help when it came to holding back feelings (obviously). Hermione didn't call her out at any moment but kept hugging her and drawing calming patterns on any flesh she came in contact.
They had lunch at Harry's. The man said he missed cooking as they usually ate at hers when they were out of school.
"Want to go home?" Hermione asked a bit after they finished eating. Fleur nodded. The trio smiled at her sympathetically, knowing she was nervous and said goodbye. The lioness held her hand, brushing her thumb on the upside of her hand. "We have four hours until we have to go. What do you want to do?"
"You." She deadpanned. Hermione eyed her with an amused look and a raised eyebrow.
"What about a soothing bath?"
"With you?" Fleur was feeling flirty (or she just wanted to get her mind out of the fact she would be meeting her future in-laws in less than twelve hours).
"You really think that seeing me naked for the first time an hour before going to my parents is a good idea?" Hermione smirked and raised a brow. Fleur's eyes widened. That definitely wasn't a good idea. They reached her apart door and the lioness laughed at her reaction. "Come on, I'll get a bath ready for you. I'll even let you have some wine." She offered, kissing her cheek and pulling her through the door.
"You know, you shouldn't be making fun of my nervousness. I'm pretty sure you'll be just bad by zee end of zee year..." Hermione stopped on her tracks and turned to face her.
"I'm not making fun of you. I just think it's cute you are like that but you're also the one who said there was nothing to worry about because you had already met."
Fleur sighed. "Oui. And I still zink zat."
"Really? You certainly don't look like it." the lioness smiled sweetly.
"I'm anxious. Eet's not logical."
"I know, love. I'm just teasing you." The brunette pulled Fleur to her by the loops of the blonde's jeans and kissed her lovingly. "They already love you, Angel. It will be fine." She reassured. The blonde melted by the nickname, yes it was cheesy but whatever. And she did just about the same...
"I 'ope so." She mumbled as they hugged.
"I know so."
Four hours later they were leaving the house, as they agreed on apparating on the nearest spot and walk to the brunette's childhood house. Hermione opted for a more casual look, wearing her usual jeans and jumper, while Fleur decided she should go a bit more formal and wore black slacks and blue blouse (the blue was quite similar to her old uniforms, she liked the colour). They made their way to the house in a comfortable silence, the blonde feeling soothed by the patterns drawn on he waist while her girlfriend held her close
"Here we are." Hermione let the French take a steadying breath before reaching out to knock on the door. Fleur noticed the other woman's smile widen as the door opened, seeing a man she recognized as her father. They really looked alike, now that she was looking closely. He and Hermione hugged as soon as the door was open. As the stepped out of the hug, the men sidestepped so they could properly enter the house. Fleur suddenly felt even more nervous.
"Dad, this is Fleur. My girlfriend." The French could sense the brunette rolling her eyes at her father as he pretended not to know her.
"Fleur. Nice to finally meet you." He smiled and extended a hand for her to shake, only when she reached for it he pulled her into a hug. "Welcome, Fleur."
"Zank you, Sir." She answered, her accent thicker thanks to her nerves.
"I hope my husband isn't making you uncomfortable, dear." An older copy of Hermione appeared from upstairs and walked to them, kissing Hermione's forehead in greeting on the way. "He tends to be quite the tease sometimes. But his jokes with our patients are by far the worse."
"Bon sour, Mrs -" she was a little embarrassed that her brain was such a wreck and had resorted to French.
"Fleur, dear, it's Charissa."
"Oui, I'm sorry."
"Or you can call me mum. Since you are family now." She smiled.
"Mum, dad..." Hermione groaned.
"Right... Uh, why don't you seat? Dinner should be ready in a few." Her father smiled and motioned to the soda and armrests.
"Can I offer you any beverages?" The older Granger woman resumed to the host part.
"I'm gonna grab some water. Want some, love?" Fleur nodded, feeling her anxiety spike as she noticed that the lioness would be leaving her side.
"So, Fleur. What do you do for a living?" The men began as soon as his daughter was out of the room.
She gulped. "I currently work as an Auror for zee Ministry of Magic, Sir."
"Currently?" His wife asked.
"Oui. I used to be a course breaker at Gringotts before zee war broke."
"She was invited by the Minister himself to join the division almost immediately after the last battle," Hermione informed as she walked in, smiling apologetically at her. "Here, babe." she offered one of the glasses she was holding.
"The Minister himself? That's something!"
"She is training the new Aurors and sweeping some of the Death Eaters' houses" Hermione added. Fleur could feel the wave of pride coming from the brunette and smiled at her. She had no idea that her girlfriend took such pride in her job.
"Death Eaters?" Hermione's mum asked.
"The guys who followed the bigotted man that led the bad guys..."
"Right, Volde-something." The men nodded, apparently remembering the story his daughter had told them.
"Oui."
"How about family?" Her in-laws resumed the interrogation, not that she minded now that Hermione was there, next to her. She let her body relax a little bit as the brunette caressed her hand.
"Oh, zey all live in France. I see zem from time to time."
"Oh, why did you leave? If it's not asking too much..." Charissa asked curiously.
"Not at all. I guess I wanted to grow a bit out of my family's wings. I can't exactly say I fell in love with your country at first sight..." She chuckled at the memory of her last school year at the British school. "And I wanted to fight zee purists, too."
"Fleur's family is important in France."
"How so?"
"Our Clan lead all zee Veela clans of zee country." She explained. Both of Hermione's parents nodded, awestruck.
"Has Hermione met them already?" Emmet asked.
"Non. She only knows Gabrielle, my sister. Because she was with me when I came to compete at zee Triwizard Tournament. But zey didn't 'ave many interactions... Maman and grand-mère are dying to meet 'er and Papa ees 'appy to 'ave someone to talk to about 'is researches." She smiled, remembering how they all had reacted to the fact she had found her mate. "Gaby almost convinced Maman to allow 'er to transfer schools only to be able to get to know 'ermione." Her girlfriend eyed her curiously, she didn't know about her baby sister's little stunt. "She went all zee way to saying she would be able to see eef 'ermione was really a good ma-girlfriend to me."
"She sounds like a fierce girl. How old is she?" Charissa asked.
"She just turned zirteen. She's a force to be reckoned indeed."
Hermione smiled at her, she felt the softness of her sight on her and smiled back. Unknown to them, the Grangers smiled at the couple being able to see how much they cared for each other.
Emmet clapped his hands and got up. "The food must be ready, let's move to the table?"
"Oh, I nearly forgot." Fleur produced a bottle of wine from her purse. "A courtesy from my family. Eet's 'as a self-filling spell so eet should keep itself full until zee spell fades."
"Thank you, darling. You didn't have to."
"Maman sent eet with 'er regards, I'm only zee messenger." Fleur smiled, keeping to herself the fact that she had requested the bottle at the beginning of the week.
"It is a wonderful wine, mum..."
"I shall open it now then. Everyone is served?" They all nodded. They sat at the table after a small toast, the men getting the food on it a bit later.
"Zee food is wonderful."
"Thank you, Fleur." Emmet smiled at her.
"It's really great, dad!"
"Don't sound so surprised, smarty." He smirked and Hermione rolled her eyes at the nickname. Fleur couldn't help the small smile tugging at her lips. An hour later, Fleur and Hermione were saying goodbye and stepping into the fireplace.
The lioness was smiling at her as soon as she stepped into the living room. Fleur had gone through the flames before the brunette, leaving her to talk a bit more with her parents.
"See? Nothing to worry about!" Hermione said, grinning.
"You are never going to let me live eet down..." Fleur pouted.
"I'm not. But I'm sure I'll be just as nervous to meet your parents if not more." Hermione smiled and kissed her pout softly, trying to convince her to stop. "And I'm even more sure you'll tease me just as much."
"I won't -"
"Don't make promises you won't keep, babe." She said softly as her finger brushed Fleur's lips to stop her from talking. The blonde crossed her arms and her pout grew. With a sigh, the lioness began tickling her sides, making her double in laughter and try to escape her touch.
"'ermione! Je cède! Je cède!" Fleur yelled while trying to contain her laughter. The blonde had tried to run from the lioness but tripped and was now on the floor (on her back) with Hermione straddling her. The tickling stopped and both of them were suddenly aware of their position. Either was able to say who leaned in first as the thirst for the other was the only thing they cared about. Fleur whined as she felt Hermione bite her lower lip softly and move to her neck, kissing and sucking on all the right spots. The blonde pulled the brunette closer and moaned as the other women bit a particular spot near her pulse point that never failed to make her a hot mess. The woman above her chuckled, obviously earning the response she had been looking for, and redirected her mouth to Fleur's. At that moment the blonde rolled them, she smirked down at her girlfriend, who gulped, and held both her arms up. After a small glare to warn her not to move her arms, Fleur proceeded to kiss her. The blonde bit all the soft spots on the lioness' neck making her whine in no time. She used the first whine as a sign to softly move her hands under Hermione's upper clothes, making her gasp. Fleur was able to see the brunette's irises blow and almost fade completely. It was her time to chuckle. Her grip on Hermione's waist tightened, practically forcing a moan through the brunette's lips.
"Je t'aime." The French said in a low voice particularly raspy.
"Je t'aime aussi... Merlin, Fleur! You are going to kill me one of these days..." The lioness closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Do you have any idea of what your voice and how you are holding me is doing to me?" She asked, her voice was already an octave lower than usual and she was a little shaky.
"I do 'ave my guess."
"You should be a good girlfriend and help to keep ourselves out of being naked in bed before Christmas break... We agreed to that after all."
"And miss zee fun? Besides, you just straddled me. You aren't 'elping either."
"You're too damn beautiful to not be touched."
"..." Fleur hid her face in Hermione's neck. She felt the brunette chuckle, knowing she would know and understand what she was feeling. The praises weren't unwanted, she still wasn't completely used to hearing them while the owner of the voice had been with such clear eyes.
"You are fucking amazing, love." Hermione moved her arms to bring Fleur down and hug her, drawing senseless patterns on her back.
"You are too..." She whispered.
"So, we have a little more than a month until break..." Hermione began, still laying on the floor. Fleur moved to the lioness' side and snuggled to her side, her head on the brunette's shoulder.
"Oui,"
"Want to start planning?"
"Sure... You 'ave zee Grangers and we 'ave zee Burrow and France."
"Actually, we have the Grangers. Mom and dad say you are more than invited to go with me..."
"Eef you are sure..."
"They loved you, Fleur. They know you are family even us not being fully mated yet."
Fleur tightened her hold on Hermione's waist and kissed her shoulder lightly. "I love you."
"Je t'aime, love." Hermione kissed the top of the blonde's head. "I thought we could go to mom's first. Molly invited them too so we could spend like two days at home with them and then head to the Burrow..."
"Sounds good. I was wondering eef you'd like to spend some time alone with me? We could go to France and 'ave some alone time after we go meet my family…"
"So you want some alone time with me?" Hermione playfully asked, raising a brow.
"I really zought I 'ad already expressed my interest in eet..." Fleur let her hand wander under the lioness shirt and up her side earning a moan from her. The blonde smirked. "Eef I could I would simply spend your whole winter 'olidays with you in 'ere."
"On the floor?" Hermione laughed and Fleur rolled her eyes. "I know what you mean. What were you thinking? About our alone time, I mean."
"I 'ave a cottage in Parc Naturel Régional du Haut Languedoc…"
"You have a cottage?"
"Oui… Grandmère gave eet to me after I came to age to the Veela."
"That's when the thrall comes to you." Fleur nodded.
"I used eet once or twice. When I needed to be alone… But I 'aven't been zere since I came to England." Fleur explained. "Eet always felt too big for a person to leave alone… But I can understand why she gave eet to me now. I've been wanting to go zere with you ever since we got together…"
"Awn…"
"So I thought we could go zere before everyone joins us in France."
"I'd love to, Fleur…" Hermione beamed. "So, our schedule…"
"'ow long are your 'olidays?"
"It begins December 19th and ends January 3rd, so about two weeks."
"'ow about we spend 2 days at your parents, then 2 at the Burrow and go to France?"
"So we spend Christmas with your parents?"
"Oui." Fleur smiled at her girlfriend. "I guess you should get to know Christmas with the Clan."
"And what I should expect?"
"Grandmère usually gathers only our close family. But I 'ave zree aunts so close family ees a relative term."
"So I'll get to know everyone at once?" Hermione's eyes widened.
"Not at once. Maman, Papa, Gabi and Grandmère first," the blonde chuckled. "Zee rest usually arrive just before zee feast."
"Right." The lioness' voice shook. Fleur could feel her sudden nervousness and held her close.
"Zey will love you."
"I think I just said that. About my parents."
"Well, eet was zee truth. And ees still true when I say zat." She smiled and kissed just under the brunette's jaw.
"Ok. I'll try not to think about that now." Hermione chuckled. "So, we spend the Christmas with them. Then…?"
"Zen we go to zee cottage."
"Oh, so you can make me forget about your family?"
"No, so I can 'ave you all to myself. Maman, Grandmère and Gabi will monopolize you. I'm completely aware of eet." Fleur teased.
"I see."
"We can go back to zee Delacours Villa by December 30th, along with everybody."
"New years eve at the Villa with friends and family…" Fleur nodded. "I like this plan of yours."
"Eet's set zen?"
"Yeah… I'll let everyone know then…"
"Don't you want to move from 'ere?"
"I'd love to but you are looking comfy. I wouldn't dare to ruin it."
"I'm sure you can compensate me."
"Bed?"
"Oui."
A/N: Hello my dear readers! It's me, your friendly neighbour Celtic! Oh, and happy Yule! I might post again on Christmas... I'm feeling like gifting you guys!
Cute meeting with the in-laws? And them teasing each other? I loved writing these!
Please review, I'm always pleased to learn what you think!
;3
See Yah!
PS: KillerBlair1: I have no frigging idea, honestly... I hope you liked the story tho...
Fran KT: Thank you so much! I'm happy you enjoy my writing!
Wk: Hey! So, what you think?
PPS: If you feel like sending me requests suggestions or prompts, feel free to reach me by PM or email me: celticdaughterfics (gmail)
PPPS: I'll post another oneshot in a bit... So if you like a little Drarry, go read... Oh, there's a hint of Pansmione
