"Ma Belle, we should get up. Come on..." Fleur smiled seeing her girlfriend trying to hide under the covers for a moment. It was unusual for her to be able to see that, Hermione was usually the first awake and functioning.
"Ugh" Hermione rolled and hugged Fleur dearly. "Why?"
She knew it wasn't a real question and smiled. "Because I want to see my family and I want you to meet zem only so zat all zis nervousness come to an end." She laughed as she saw the pout her girlfriend had on her lips.
"As if you could have a say in this. At least I don't really know them..." Hermione glared her then rolled her eyes, smiled and pecked her lips lightly. "Good morning, gorgeous."
Fleur chased the brunette's lips but forced herself to answer her, even if it was more a mumbled 'morning' against her lips than anything. She felt the lioness chuckle against her as she rolled them so she was on top of Hermione. But the tremble of her was cut off by a low moan. Five minutes later, they were still wrapped around each other. But simply enjoying their warmth and almost falling asleep once again. They both startled when someone knocked on the door.
"Hermione, Fleur! Darlings, are you two awake? You are going to be late!" Molly spoke from behind the door.
"Stop snogging and come to eat. At least spend some time with us. You are leaving in one hour! You can have your alone time when-"Ginny began screaming.
"We are going! We are awake and almost ready!" Hermione interrupted the redhead.
"You better be!" Ginny shouted. Hermione groaned and Fleur chuckled at their interaction.
When the arrived at the kitchen for breakfast, Fleur smiled at the redhead family plus additions as they were all waiting for them to spend the meal together. Well, everyone but Ron. She knew it hurt Hermione but knew better than to speak up.
"Good morning, dream couple." Fred sing sang.
They spent the breakfast talking about amenities and were all smiling and laughing the whole time.
"We'll see you in a week, right?" The brunette asked as they hugged everyone goodbye.
"And you think I'd miss the chance of going to France? You won't get rid of us so easily." Ginny smirked.
"I forgot to mention," Fleur began, "but Maman ees zrowing a ball at new year's eve. You are our guests of 'onor, actually." She beamed and almost rolled laughing at the sight of deep despair in Ginny's and Harry's face. Fleur felt Hermione chuckle.
"Fleur arranged an appointment at Madam Malkin for all of you right after Christmas." The brunette added. "It's our present for you. Now, we should get going. Mom and dad will meet you at the apartment before you go to the Ministry." Molly nodded.
They arrived at the Ministry right on time. Thankfully they didn't need to go to their places before going there. The Burrow had a direct connection with the government building as Mr Weasley had accepted the offer of being head of his department. They had exactly five minutes to be at the transportation department so they simply walked briskly to the lifts. They would be taking a portkey to France as it was the safest way to do so. The long-distance apparition had an enormous risk of splinching and international flu wasn't allowed between at civil houses, besides, Hermione had no will of entering the Delacours' household for the first time by the fireplace. Fleur had laughed when the brunette had voiced her thoughts about travelling by flu network. The department had a strict procedure to ensure everyone's safety and requested that they used their premises to travel, Hermione and Fleur walked into the room they were supposed to use as the departing point and the whole room instantly got silent. Fleur had to force herself not to roll her eyes, they worked here, for fuck sakes. She saw Hermione sigh and tightened her hold on her hand. Well, they did have to deal with it, her heritage and Hermione's fame made them highly and easily spottable.
"Oh, Miss Delacour, Miss Granger! You are just on time! France, correct? Please check the destination and sign at the bottom, I'll go get it." The woman at the table smiled sweetly at them after summoning the needed paperwork and Fleur made sure to slip her arm around the lioness' waist. The woman seemed to have around her age and the blonde almost jumped over the table when she noticed her eyes roaming over her girlfriend's body. Hermione must have noticed as she kissed her cheek. Fleur relaxed instantly and refocused on the papers. She passed the document to the woman after signing it, who handed them a chipped cup. She turned and began to move further into the room as she heard Hermione thank the woman and follow her.
"My jealous girlfriend." She smirked and touched the cup the blonde was holding. The pull came right away and soon they were landing in front of her family's provincial beach house. "A chateau. Your family owns a chateau. Of course." The blonde chuckled at her girlfriend's words.
Hermione had no idea why she was shocked. But she was. She had felt her mouth fall open as soon as she gathered their surroundings. The path that led to the entrance was flanked by a line of bushes that stood just shy of the paved aisle. The chateau's facade (and its whole exterior, Hermione guessed) was painted in light beige while the windows were pure white, both colours contrasting with the greyish blue of the roof. The building seemed huge in her perspective and she was almost sure it was bigger than its exterior let it show. She could see two small balconies just above the entrance door, almost forming a line upwards. It seemed to have three floors but she was questioning herself as she analysed the exterior knowing the interior could and probably would be completely different. The house seemed much like a muggle doll's house, one she never really wanted but had when younger. Anyhow, she was completely shocked by the magnificent view of the house. Despite looking old, it was obviously well-taken care. She was still admiring the view when she felt Fleur reach for her hand and start guiding her towards the entrance doors.
"Come on, ma Reine. Zee beach 'ouse yes beautiful, right? Wait until you see zee view from our bedroom!" The blonde flashed her a grin as she practically dragged her. Hermione felt warm when she heard her say 'our bedroom', not that she wasn't expecting to share the room with her girlfriend but hearing her say that made a few butterflies rise in her stomach. It momentarily made her forget the fact that she was moments away from getting to know her girlfriend's family. Her future mate's family. Fuck. She felt her anxiety spike as soon as she thought about them (coincidentally as the Blonde reached to open the door). Fleur looked at her with a soft smile and a knowing face. "Eet will be just fine, mon Coeur. Believe me." She kissed her softly. Hermione felt herself nod after taking a steadying breath and the blonde opened the door calmly while tightening her grip on her hand as if to let her know she was there.
Once again, she felt her breath be taken away. While the exterior of the house was well kept, the interior was pristine. The first thing she noticed was how the floor seemed to be completely open, she could see the other side of the house from where she was standing. It seemed as if it was some kind of ballroom, though it was well decorated with classically styled furniture. It was obviously huge. The wall on the other side had a series of doors ajar, allowing her to see the pool and garden and then the beach further ahead. The next thing she registered was how at home she felt. It wasn't a Fleur's feeling, she noted, it was all hers. She smiled and walked in looking around. Beautiful and well-planned she concluded as she took the room in again.
"It's beautiful, Fleur!" The blonde beamed and nodded.
"FLEUR!" She heard the name be pronounced by a girl's voice and guessed it was Gabrielle. She saw a thirteen-year-old Fleur run towards them.
"Ne cours pas, Gabrielle! (No running, Gabrielle!)" A voice Hermione guessed was their mother's came from the same direction as the girl, who slowed down immediately.
"Je suis désolée, maman! (I'm sorry, maman)" As soon as the girl was into reaching distance, she threw herself at her sister. "Fleur! Finalement tu es là! Tu m'as tellement manquée. Les filles à l'école sont tellement chiantes! (You are finally here! I missed you so much! That girls at school are so annoying!)" The younger blonde started speaking a hundred miles an hour and as much as Hermione tried to understand, she couldn't.
"Arrêtes d'être aussi dramatique Gaby. (Stop being dramatic, Gaby.)" Fleur answered, chuckling.
"On dirait que le drame est héréditaire. (The drama is hereditary then.)" Hermione whispered, receiving a glare from her girlfriend.
"I'd like to zink eet's a treat exclusive of zee girls," Apolline said as she approached, smiling. Hermione felt herself blanch, she didn't really think the older veela would hear.
"Oh, 'Line eet's not." The men right beside her chuckled. "I 'ave a zeory eet's a veela treat, actually." She immediately felt her cheeks warm up.
"Maman, Papa!" Fleur beamed at them although Apolline was glaring at her mate. She released her sister and moved to greet them.
"Tu parles Français. Ma stupide soeur disait que tu ne le parlais pas. (You speak French. My dumb sister said you didn't.)" Gabrielle spoke to her smiling broadly.
"J'ai un peu appris pour la surprendre. (I've learned a little bit to surprise her.)" She answered, shrugging it off.
"And as she doesn't do anything 'alfway, she obviously managed to 'ave a perfect accent." Fleur beamed at her proudly. Hermione noticed a freckle of gold in her cerulean eyes and noticed the blonde had taken a liking of her speaking her native language. "Ma Reine, as you must 'ave already guessed, zis ees my annoying sister, Gabrielle. And zese are maman and papa!" She beamed again, Hermione was able to feel the love emanating from her blonde. She mirrored the smile and moved her attention to her in-laws who had moved to greet her.
"J'ai l'impression d'être mise de côté. (I feel like I'm being left out.)" A voice came from behind Fleur as Hermione was being hugged by Fleur's father.
He chuckled and whispered: "See? Eet's a veela treat."
"I 'eard zat, Antoine." Apolline said.
As soon as she pulled back from the hug, she was being pulled into another one by the matriarch of the family.
"Eet's a pleasure to finally meet you, 'ermione."
"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, Isabelle." She received a pointed look at the name. "I mean, grand-mére…"
"Nonsense. You were at school. Fleur 'as been gushing at 'ow incredibly brilliant you are ever since she came 'ere after zee war."
"Grand-mére!" Fleur groaned and blushed.
"Eet's true!" Gaby intervened. "Eet was always 'ermione zis, 'ermione zat!" Hermione smiled at her girlfriend and saw the traces of annoyance fade from her face as she smiled back.
A house-elf popped near them and talked with Apolline than vanished.
"Zeeny says lunch ees ready and asked you two to leave your bags 'ere and she'll get zem to zee bedroom." She said, motioning for everyone to move further in the house and to the table, Hermione guessed. She couldn't help but glance worriedly at Fleur when the blonde approached and set her bag into the ground.
"All zee elves zat work for zee family are paid and well treated, mon Coeur." She whispered while embracing her. She nodded then placed her bag beside the blondes. "We are also magical creatures too, 'ermione. We tend to treat our peers as zey deserve…" She sounded a bit hurt.
"I'm sorry, love. I know that." She hugged Fleur and pecked her lips. "I'm really sorry."
"I know. Eet's in your nature to try and defend everyone you can." Fleur nodded and smiled. She turned Hermione on her arms so she was hugging her from behind and started guiding her through the house. "I might add, you sound really 'ot speaking French." She kissed the nape of her neck a few times, forcing Hermione to hold back a small moan as they walked.
"Now you know how I feel when you go all French on me." They chuckled.
Fleur released her as they approached the table and reached for her hand. They sat side by side, in front of Apolline and Antoine. Gaby was on Hermione's other side while Isabelle held the head of the table. A pleasant conversation ensued as they ate, the main subject remained on her and London.
"We'll leave you to get settled," Grand-mére said as the conversation died. She smiled and all of them got up. "Eef you need anyzing call Zeeny, she likes pampering Fleur. My guess ees zere are at least a few treats waiting for you at zee bedroom." The older veela smiled.
"C-" Gaby began.
"No, Gabrielle. Let Fleur and 'ermione get settled. You'll 'ave a lot of time with zem." Apolline interrupted her younger daughter, making the girl roll her eyes. All of them hugged once more while welcoming them again, then Fleur guided Hermione upstairs. They climbed to the third floor and Fleur moved to one of the doors, it was white as all the others but it held a single flower magically kept alive. She smiled.
"Maman put zis 'ere when I chose zee room… I was zree I zink." Fleur said.
Hermione smiled at how completely Fleur's the room was. A few bookcases were against one of the walls sided by a desk, in front of it there were two armchairs, the bed lined with the windows at the opposite wall and there were a few photos of a small Fleur with equally small kids as well as some of her and her family. Before she could think of anything else, she approached the frames and started gushing at how cute her girlfriend had been as a toddler. Her attention was torn from the photos by a squealing Fleur. She looked in her direction only to see her beaming at her holding something for her to take. She let the blonde put it in her mouth, the sweet melted in her mouth and she couldn't help but moan.
"Eet's great, right? Zeeny knows I love zem…"
"Bonbons?" She guessed, Fleur simply nodded after popping one in her mouth. She looked around once more and only then noticed the view that the blonde had referred to. She approached the door she only now noticed and entered the balcony. From there she could see the sea and the beach and the woods that surrounded most of the property (she had just noticed it). "It's really pretty here, Fleur." She whispered as she felt the blonde hug her from behind and lean her head over her shoulder.
"Oui." The blonde answered quietly and kissed her cheek. "Zank you."
"What for?"
"Being 'ere. Existing."
Hermione turned to look into her eyes.
"Shush, silly woman. It's me who had to be thanking you. You are amazing." They kissed soundly.
The kiss was calm and they let their feelings reach each other through their bound. They stayed like that for a while, kissing and hugging. Fleur chuckled and Hermione looked at her questioningly.
"Maman will only be able to 'old Gaby from barging in for a little while, we should sort our zings." She explained laughing, making Hermione smile and nod. They did quick work, making use of magic to do so then they were back to making out. Gabrielle barged in while they were kissing languidly and screamed, hiding her eyes.
"Je t'avais dit de toquer. (I told you to knock.)" A smirking Apolline entered the room after her younger.
The rest of the day was spent together, all of them talking or playing a game, while Gaby complained about how her innocence had been robbed by her sister.
The next day Hermione was beginning to feel anxious again. The perspective of meeting Fleur's aunts and cousins getting to her as soon as she woke up. As if reading her mind, the blonde tightened her hold on her. They were still in bed and her mind had caught up with her.
"Don't zink too much about eet, ma Reine." She mumbled, seemingly knowing what she was psyched about. "Zey'll be just as smitten for you as I am." She kissed her collarbone. "On second zought, not as much as I. But zey will be." Hermione noticed she was still half asleep and smiled, letting her words and warmth calm her down.
Despite her basically praying that all Fleur's three aunts and an unknown number of cousins arrived at the exact same time, each family arrived separately. She was actually having a hard time remembering their names, there were ten cousins. Too many names. She had suffered from her nerves the whole day, Fleur helped quite a lot releasing her thrall whenever her nerves spiked and simply being there for her. Gaby decided she could tease her despite her sister's deathly glares. The first aunt to arrive had been the one the blondes said was the closest to them, Edelie. Three little blondes were running to their cousins as soon as the family went through the fireplace. They were all younger than Gaby, apparently, and the oldest had just begun at Beauxbatons. Fleur introduced her to them all, the youngest decided she should take residence in her lap (not that Hermione minded, she loved little kids). Then came Adalene, their oldest aunt, one of her daughters seemed to have about the same age as Fleur and she had the feeling she had seen her with her blonde on her fourth year.
"Belle, zis ees Lea. She was at 'ogwarts for zee tournament…" Fleur confirmed her suspects.
"Ah, zee Golden Girl! Always so lucky, Fleur!" Lea said beaming. Hermione noticed the whole family looked alike, coming to the conclusion that the veela blood was really dominant.
"She 'ates zee nickname," Gaby informed with a smile.
"Je suis sincèrement désolé! (I'm terribly sorry!)" Hermione laughed it off, accepting the apology. Fleur proceeded to introduce Lea's three siblings. When it was almost time for dinner, Dianne appeared. As the family was complete, they sat to eat. Once again, the attention was completely focused on her, Fleur was doing every possible thing to make her more comfortable. At some point, the conversation moved to little Fleur's anecdotes much to her delight and the blonde's horror. Hermione smiled lovingly at her girlfriend after a few stories and once again saw her annoyed posture crumble as she smiled back and pulled her closer. As predicted by the blonde, the veela family practically demanded a hundred per cent of her attention. As they entered their room after a few hours of pleasant talk.
"Finally I can 'ave some of your attention..." Fleur pouted while hugging her.
"You have my full attention, love." She smiled and kissed the pout. "And after tomorrow will have it for a whole week. Undivided. My gorgeous girlfriend."
"Uhmm, can't wait." Fleur bought their lips together and smiled as Hermione moaned softly.
It didn't take long to the couple to be making out on the bed, half-naked. They smiled at each other and lost themselves in the other's eyes.
"We should probably sleep..." Hermione whispered.
"Oui." Fleur moved to get up.
"Fleur?"
"Oui?"
"Where are you going?" Hermione was confused, they had recently taken to sleeping almost naked as they felt more comfortable with the touch of the other.
"Well, tomorrow ees Christmas, mon Ange. And unless you are willing to flash Gaby and my cousins your delicious body, I'd say eets wise zat we sleep in our pyjamas today..." Fleur smiled back at her while she retrieved the sleeping clothes, which consisted of pyjamas pants and loose t-shirts. She began to change after offering Hermione one of the sets.
"Why would we flash them?" Her brain basically short-circuited every time she saw her girlfriend in only her panties. Fleur smirked at her knowingly.
"Zey usually break into 'ere early in zee morning so they are able to open zeir gifts. Maman always said everybody 'ad to be up for zee present exchange. And after Jaqu and Louis 'ad to wait for two 'ours until I and Lea woke up, eet 'as become a tradition. I'm usually Zee last one to be woken up 'ence all cousins."
Hermione chuckled at the new information, she wasn't used to big family Christmas mornings as she herself was an only child and said mornings were spent only with her parents. She nodded and began to dress for bed. They slept as soon as they laid in bed, completely entangled.
Hermione awoke with a jolt and a not so small body of a thirteen-year-old crashing into her.
"Bonjour, soeurs!" Was the first thing she heard. And probably the last, she thought as she recovered from the shout in her ear. She groaned.
"Bonjour, Gaby." She heard Fleur answer with a groan.
"I'm sorry, I tried to keep her from doing that but you know Gaby," Lea spoke softly.
"Eet's okay. Gaby, off." Fleur pushed her sister out of bed and smiled at Hermione. "Bonjour, mon Ange."
"Bonjour, love. We really need to?" She asked in a mumble hiding her face in Fleur's shoulder.
"Oui, zey won't leave until we are up." the blonde whispered and she whined.
"Fine…"
"Viens, on doit toujours réveiller les adultes! (Come on, we still have to wake the adults!)" One of the younger kids said excitedly. He was yet to learn English and Hermione couldn't help but smile at the toddler's French.
"Because we surely are not adults…" Lea mumbled as the group filled out of the room. Hermione smiled at her. As they followed the large group of kids, three mugs appeared on the small table by the door and her senses were invaded by the scent of coffee.
"Thank you, Zee." Fleur spoke softly as she passed the mugs to her and Lea.
They silently walked after the horde of small veelas sipping their coffees. Soon the whole family was gathered near the Christmas tree, kids with hot chocolate in hand and adults with their coffee. The parents, Hermione and the two older cousins looking rather tired as they were the last to go to sleep.
"Every year I wonder why we don't sleep at zee same time as zem." Adalene mumbled, after a sip of her coffee.
"Every year I wonder why we don't spike zeir night drinks with some sleeping potion." Edelie countered making them laugh.
"Let zem 'ave zeir fun." Apolline said still smiling.
"Zat insane rule ees yours, 'Line" Dianne complained.
"Non, eet's Maman's. You know eet."
"Ne me mêlez pas à la conversation! (Keep me out of this discussion!)" Grand-mére exclaimed.
They began exchanging gifts and Hermione was a bit anxious wondering if they would like her's. Actually, she was worried about Apolline, Antoine, Gaby and Isabelle's reactions to her gifts. The other's Fleur had helped her, especially her aunts. The kids Hermione had ended up gifting a bundle of British candy, both muggle and wizarding. She had gotten to Adalene, Edelie and Dianne beautiful scarfs that Fleur had helped her pick up. Hermione had almost gone crazy trying to figure out what to buy for he in-laws but she refused to get tips from Fleur. She ended up settling on some science and literature muggle books to Antoine since Fleur had said he loved books as much as her, a beautiful necklace to Apolline along with two muggle romances she loved so much, a pair of earrings and two plays by Shakespeare to Isabelle and a bundle of products from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes catalogue sided with some muggle candy.
"Are zese…" Fleur began as soon as she saw the box in Gaby's hands. Hermione nodded. "Maman ees going to kill you." She laughed. "Gaby, just don't get expelled using zese." She teased, pointing at the box.
"Why would she be expelled?" Apolline asked curiously.
"Zose are products from zee twins shop," Fleur answered. Her mother seemed in slight shock.
"I promise I didn't let the twins even close to the box while I was choosing. There's nothing dangerous in there, just silly jokes." Hermione reassured and Apolline smiled, relieved.
She silently moved to retrieve the last two presents she had bought and handed them to Fleur, who smiled widely her eyes shining. Her guts turned into knots while Fleur opened them. The first gift earned a gasp and a beaming kiss on the cheek. It was a pendant, one she had the jeweller draw from scratch for her, it was the image of an eagle and an otter cuddling. Fleur moved so she could put it around her neck. There was more to it, but she decided to tell her about it when they were alone. The second gift had demanded her work and was something she had been working on for the biggest part of the semester, as she had decided to gather all her favourite books of the muggle world and gift it to the blonde. It obviously wasn't the whole collection but she decided to make a small joke and had stolen the book she had first gifted her and put it in the present box along with a small note saying 'There are more from where this came from.' Under it, there was a book she had owned when younger, a diary actually. Her reading diary. At first, Fleur looked confused as she saw the first book, then she read the note and smiled. Reaching for the book she noticed the worn-out diary and as she opened it, Hermione saw her eyes shine. She laughed and gave her presents, not saying a word about the present. She silently indicated she should open the box first. As she opened it, she blinked. A book, in French. Under it, a similar diary a bit less well-taken care. Then she understood. They had had the exact same idea. They exchanged a kiss and laughed. The other present was an intricate fountain pen and a set of new journals, they were blood red with her name on the cover in golden ink.
"Zee pen ees self-filling and I know you are always short of journals," Fleur whispered.
"Thank you, love! They are beautiful!" Hermione kissed her cheek and beamed at her.
After all the exchanged gifts between them, she had gotten three books about French history and two about transfiguration from Apolline and Antoine, three journals filled with spell theory and studies from Isabelle, who said she was sure she would make good use of, and from Gaby she was gifted lingerie (it earned Gaby a nasty look from Fleur and as deep blush from Hermione, the youngest rolled of laugher along with Lea - who Hermione guessed had helped her choosing). And a few books and sweets from the rest of the family. She smiled knowingly at the other presents near her feet. She recognised the wrapping of one of them as being the one Mrs Weasley always wrapped her knitted sweaters and picked it first, being followed by Fleur who chose the same wrapping to open. Her's was very similar to the others she had received the previous years but it held one big difference, it had 'H' embroidered and usually, it lacked any. Fleur's was blue, the colour very similar to the Beauxbatons' blue and held 'F' in the front. They laughed and smiled at the care and acceptance from the Weasley matriarch. Hermione knew it meant a lot, Molly only did that to her children. She also received: the usual amount of books from her friends; two books from her parents (with a note saying they had found a few apparently good books with a lesbian heroine); a box from Ginny she decided to open later as she was certain it contained a gift similar to that of her sister-in-law; another journal and a book on ancient charms from Harry; a couple of books on magical creatures from Luna; a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans from Ron (not surprisingly, he always gifted her that even though she hated that specific candy); and, much to her surprise (but none from Fleur), two transfiguration books from Minerva that looked old but well taken care (along with a leaf of Mandrake). She smiled at the letter the headmistress had sent with the gift, where she offered to guide her through the process of becoming an animagus if it interested her.
The wrapping papers on the floor were cleaned by themselves as Apolline informed them that most house-elves were on holiday. Hermione beamed at that.
"Zee will go after we leave…" Fleur whispered to her. "Maman was telling zee truth when she said she likes me…"
Hermione laughed, "I noticed with the bonbons when we arrived."
A/N: Hello my dear readers! It's I, your friendly neighbour Celtic! It has been a while, right? Please don't kill me! Well, The Delacours for you, a bit of fluff for you!
Please review, I'm always pleased to learn what you think!
;3
See Yah!
PS: Drummergirl: Yup! My exact thoughts!
Cloe: AAAAND IT'S HERE! LOL
WK: Ron is an idiot. He needs to learn how to be civil and bahave as a person in opinion.
PPS: If you feel like sending me requests suggestions or prompts, feel free to reach me by PM or email me: celticdaughterfics (gmail)
PPPS: So, I posted the Drarry oneshot, I'm feeling like writing the Pansmione side of the story, what do you think? Go read the shortstory, leave me a review saying if you want the girls side...
