Hermione got home to Grimmauld Place, feeling on top of the world for cheering Fleur up. Maybe she could do a great job of supporting Fleur and the baby.
"Hey 'Mione! Back from seeing your baby-mumma?" Ginny greeted Hermione tipsily.
Ginny, Luna, Harry and Ron were lounging around the living room, sharing a few beers.
"Hey—" Hermione started defensively, before realizing that, yes, that was literally what she had been doing, "Yeah, I was with Fleur. We had another check up and things are going really well."
She smiled, which in turn seemed to boost the spirits of her tipsy friends.
"Good work, Hermione!" Harry congratulated her, standing up unsteadily and clapping her on the shoulder.
Hermione chuckled at her sozzled best friend.
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione smiled.
Ron stood up, coming to join them, grinning widely.
"I think you need to be recognized as being the 'Best Baby-Daddy,' 'Mione," Ron giggled, looking mischievous, "How about I just spell that on to your leather jacket here?"
"No, Ron," Hermione sighed, as Ron drunkenly took out his wand.
"Nah, just a cheeky little patch here," Ron insisted, gesturing his wand towards the shoulder of Hermione's jacket, "You'll look cool, like a wholesome biker."
"Rooon!" Hermione warned, putting her hand up to try and stop the redhead, "This is my favourite jacket! Don't ruin it!"
"It's not ruining it, it's improving it!" Ron explained, beginning to wave his wand.
Hermione wasn't about to wait to see how Ron's drunken spellwork worked out on her favourite jacket. She quickly withdrew her wand.
"Expelliarmus," Hermione said calmly.
Instead of the usual arc out of his hand that the spell should have created, Ron's wand absolutely flew out of his hand, shooting out a nearby window and shattering the glass.
"Wha? Blimey Hermione!" Ron exclaimed.
"I've never seen an expelliarmus quite that powerful before," Luna commented.
Hermione was surprised. She hadn't put any particular effort into it.
"Woah, I'm so sorry guys," Hermione said, stunned, "Accio Ron's wand."
Usually an accio took a few moments, as the requested item would need to be summoned by the magic and then carried over to the spell-caster. However, in the blink of an eye, Ron's wand was in Hermione's hand.
This garnered an excited response from Hermione's intoxicated friends, who all shouted in surprise.
"How did you do that?!" Ron shouted, a little too loud for Hermione's sober ears, "Can you teach me?!"
"Shush, Ron," Hermione said irritably, handing him back his wand, "I haven't the foggiest. If you could stop bellowing for a moment I could think."
"Have you been working out?" Ginny suggested. Hermione snorted.
"How on Earth would that affect my magical core?" Hermione said, grinning again.
Ginny shrugged.
"I dunno, just an option," Ginny said, grinning too.
"Ooh, maybe it's that superhuman strength mothers get," Harry speculated wildly, "Y'know, 'Mione? The Muggle stories about women that can suddenly lift a car to save their kid?"
"No way," Ron interjected, "Those stories were clearly from Muggles that had seen a witch using some kind of super strength spell."
"Nah uh," Harry countered, his drunkenness giving him a childish petulance. His raven hair was messier than usual, sticking up more on one side than the other. His round glasses were slightly askew.
"Uh huh," Ron insisted, shoving Harry playfully. He, too, looked untidy. His shirt was half untucked and his bowl of red hair was tousled.
Hermione sighed, sometimes it was like she was living with children. She cast a spell to fix the window before considering what to do about her tipsy friends.
"How about you all head out to a pub or something?" Hermione suggested, "We can discuss the magic thing later. Right now I would rather set up something nice for dinner for Fleur."
Ginny and Ron giggled in unison, their family resemblance never more striking.
"Ooh, I see how it is," Ginny teased, "Say no more… We'll get dinner out while we're at it."
She winked very obviously at Hermione. Ron grinned his head off like an idiot. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Right, well, thanks guys," Hermione said, choosing to focus instead on the fact that at least they would get out of her hair before they became even more of a handful.
The gang stumbled to their feet, finishing their bottles of beer before over-enthusiastically hugging Hermione goodbye.
"Yep, guys, again you're only going to be gone for a few hours… No need to—urk!" Hermione started patiently, before Ron wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.
"Good luck with your baby-mumma," Ron grinned, releasing her.
"Yeah, good luck!" Harry agreed, shooting Hermione an encouraging double thumbs-up.
Ginny and Luna chimed in with their own well wishes.
Hermione sighed heavily. They could all be total idiots, but they were her total idiots.
"Thanks guys," Hermione muttered reluctantly, "Now, shoo!"
She watched with a faint smile on her face as they all finally sloped off out the door of Grimmauld Place.
Now she could finally get to organizing a dinner to finish off cheering up Fleur.
Hermione stepped out to meet Fleur at the door as soon as she heard her arrive. She had been waiting impatiently for the blonde to show.
"Salut," Fleur greeted, smiling slightly.
"Hey, Fleur," Hermione greeted, holding her hands behind her back.
Fleur cocked her head to one side, her eyes scanning the room.
"It is quiet… Suspiciously so," Fleur commented, "Where are the boys you live with?"
"Out for the night," Hermione responded, "It's just us for dinner."
"Oh, okay," Fleur replied simply, looking at Hermione with slight curiosity.
Hermione stretched out her arm, gesturing towards the dining room doorway across the room.
"After you, mademoiselle," Hermione said, a coy smile playing at her lips. Fleur smiled, confused, and stepped ahead of Hermione, gliding across the room.
Hermione walked behind her, hoping that Fleur would appreciate the effort.
Fleur stopped as soon as she walked into the dining room.
"What is this?" Fleur asked, her azure eyes taking in the room.
Hermione had done her best to clean the dining room spotlessly. It had previously been littered with discarded Quidditch equipment and tall stacks of textbooks, all leaned precariously against walls. Trying to rid it of the distinctly 'student' look, Hermione had removed all her textbooks and the boys' Quidditch gear, stuffing it all frantically into a hallway closet.
Once clear, the room had a far more elegant look. Hermione could almost imagine how grand it had been in the heyday of the Black family. She had carefully lit candles around the room, illuminating the room with a warm light. She had wiped down the polished wood of the table carefully, trying to offset the 'pureblood prince' vibes of the room by fixing a centerpiece of flowers in the table.
She had already set the food, charmed to stay warm (a charm that had taken her a lot of time to find amongst her disorganized books, but she wouldn't tell Fleur that).
"You had a rough day," Hermione explained, "I thought you needed some pampering. It's nothing over the top, but I did try to make it all a bit tidier and… girlier in here for you."
Fleur stepped forward, reaching out a slender arm to touch the flower centerpiece on the table.
"It is nice," Fleur murmured. Hermione sighed, smiling with relief.
"Oh good," Hermione replied, "I'm no good with flowers, really."
"I like them," Fleur said, smiling, "What is this one?"
She brushed her fingertips against a cloud of small white flowers.
"Gypsophila," Hermione smiled, "Also referred to as baby's breath. I picked that one because of an old fairy tale I dug up of the discovery of the first Veela. They found the Veela in Eastern Europe, walking amongst gypsophila. The sight took the breath away of the humans that came across them."
"I have heard that tale," Fleur replied.
"Here, take a seat," Hermione pulled back a chair for Fleur. She didn't want to linger on the topic of Veela for too long. She had made her point earlier with the blonde, and didn't want to force it further.
Fleur smiled, accepting Hermione's chivalrous gesture and taking a seat. Hermione draped a cloth napkin over Fleur's lap as Fleur's attention turned to the steaming food in front of her. Hermione swept around to the other side of the table, taking her own seat.
"Bouillabaisse?" Fleur asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Two reasons for that," Hermione smiled, "One—you were right when you said Marseille is amazing for seafood. After staying at your parents' place I started craving this dish. Two—this is the topic of our first ever conversation."
"Really?" Fleur asked, scrunching her face up adorably as she tried to recall.
"You had recently arrived at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. You approached Harry, Ron and I and requested the bouillabaisse at our table," Hermione explained with a grin, "I thought you were truly dreadful."
"Dreadful!" Fleur let out a loud peal of laughter, amused.
"Yes! You had such a painfully proud air about you!" Hermione joined in laughing, "Not to mention you were drop dead gorgeous. Half the school was staring at you slack-jawed and you seemed to know it, too."
Fleur shrugged.
"The thrall," Fleur replied, a hint of distaste in her voice.
"But also that ego," Hermione teased. Fleur grinned.
"You don't seem to mind my ego now," Fleur chuckled.
"It's growing on me, I admit," Hermione smiled.
They both dived into their food, eating for a while in contented silence.
"This tastes very good, Hermione," Fleur commented, "I didn't know you were such a good cook. Otherwise I would have insisted on you coming to cook me food instead of just bringing it to me."
"You're even more of a princess when you're pregnant, you know that, right?" Hermione teased. Fleur laughed.
"I'm pregnant, I'm allowed," Fleur said with a playful pout. Hermione grinned.
"You know, it's nice seeing you smile and laugh," Hermione commented, "Sometimes you seem a little…"
"Cold?" Fleur asked, "People say that a lot."
"I was going to say unhappy," Hermione finished.
Fleur frowned, cocking her head to one side. Hermione worried for a moment that she had triggered Fleur's temper. But Fleur seemed to grow thoughtful, chewing on her lip. It seemed like she was processing Hermione's words, but deciding carefully on her response. Or at least that was Hermione's impression. Fleur was still horrendously difficult to read.
"Perhaps that is just because you don't know me well," Fleur replied eventually, her voice neutral.
Hermione could grant her that, but she still stood by her assessment that Fleur was unhappy. She harboured such shame around her creature heritage and kept to herself apart from Bill.
"I'd like to get to know you better," Hermione said.
Fleur looked down, playing with her food.
"What do you want to know?" Fleur asked quietly. Hermione was surprised by how vulnerable the blonde sounded.
"You… You were always surrounded by people at Hogwarts. Absolutely intimidating large groups of girls… But now when I see you, you're always on your own or just with Bill," Hermione said, "Why is that?"
"I related to them easily," Fleur shrugged.
She seemed intent on just leaving it at that, but Hermione watched her carefully, silently encouraging her to continue.
Fleur sighed temperamentally.
"In France, it is not uncommon to have some creature blood in you," Fleur said, "There is no real shame. Look how at ease Gabrielle is."
"In Britain it is different?" Hermione asked. She leaned forward a little in her curiosity.
Fleur looked down.
"I almost was not able to come for the Triwizard Tournament," Fleur admitted, "Veela are classed as Dangerous Creatures and must register with the government here. It caused a lot of paperwork for Madame Maxime to get myself and the other students with creature heritage there."
"Oh… I didn't realize that," Hermione said slowly. She felt a little stupid. She studied policy so intently, she should have also studied current laws as hard.
"I didn't realize what it was like until I got here, either," Fleur replied, "The whispers behind hands, that awful Skeeter woman saying awful things about my heritage in the Prophet, it was a lot to suddenly deal with."
Hermione's eyes widened. She had been so distracted with the brutal publicity that she, Harry and Viktor had got that she had never even paid attention to the similar scrutiny that Fleur and Cedric had been under. She had vague memories of them also having unflattering stories posted, but she had never bothered to read them at the time.
"I'm sorry…" Hermione said slowly, "But, if you don't mind me asking, if it is worse here than it is in France—why did you come back?"
Fleur's eyes flicked up to meet Hermione's. Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat at the pure intensity in Fleur's azure gaze.
"The Order of the Phoenix," Fleur replied simply, "It was here that the frontline of the fight against Voldemort would be fought. I wanted to help."
"Now it's over," Hermione pointed out, "Couldn't you return?"
Fleur sighed, flipping her silky blonde hair over her shoulder.
"I met Bill while I was with the Order of the Phoenix and working together at Gringotts," Fleur explained, "He helped me with my English and I helped him with his- rather sloppy- spellwork."
Hermione suppressed a giggle, her memory turning back to a time in class where she had had to help Ron with a sloppy execution of a Wingardium Leviosa spell.
"And?" Hermione asked, eager for Fleur to continue.
"And Fenrir Greyback happened," Fleur replied, "After the war, Bill was informed that he was now classed as a Dangerous Creature. He had to register with the Ministry for the sake of public safety."
"Oh," Hermione felt a surge of sympathy for Bill.
"Oui," Fleur replied, "He had gone from a pureblood wizard in society to a part-creature overnight. I stayed to help him through all the paperwork, then we became even better friends. I can't imagine going back to France and leaving him behind now."
"So he's kind of the reason you're still here post-war?" Hermione surmised. Inwardly, she realized she had a lot more to thank Bill for than she had initially thought.
Fleur nodded.
"I suppose so," Fleur replied, "I really like working at Gringotts, too. Of course, this is another reason as well," she patted her stomach, "It seems better to remain in the same country as the other parent."
"Oh, good, I'm glad you think that," Hermione replied, her mind now turning to their baby. Fleur smiled coyly.
"Well, I couldn't let you get out of your share of diaper-changing," Fleur teased.
Hermione scoffed.
"I predict you will be the one trying to wriggle out of that, Delacour," Hermione shot back. Fleur cocked an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Really!" Hermione insisted, "You are such a princess! I can't imagine you changing a baby!"
Fleur gasped overdramatically, putting a hand up to her mouth. Hermione giggled.
"Excusez moi?" Fleur replied, "I am the first to roll my sleeves up and get dirty."
Hermione cursed her mind for coming up with about a million inappropriate suggestions for Fleur 'getting dirty,' focusing instead at the conversation at hand.
"So… I do think it would be nice if you moved in here with me," Hermione said carefully, "I really like looking after you and the baby… It would easier to do that if we lived together. Plus, you stay here every night anyway."
Fleur looked thoughtful, having the last of her bouillabaisse as she thought.
Hermione got up, clearing the plates. As Fleur continued to sit in pensive silence, Hermione decided to use her secret weapon. She whipped a cloth off two plates, revealing a delicious chocolate tart topped with strawberries. She picked them up, depositing one in front of Fleur and sitting down with her plate.
Fleur's eyes lit up. She was practically salivating in front of Hermione.
"How did you…" Fleur said slowly, staring at the dessert.
"I may have called your father and asked what your favourite dessert is," Hermione shrugged, diving in to her own dessert, "Cassandra jumped on the line at the end and told me Veela love strawberries, so they're an add-on."
Fleur excitedly dove into her dessert, pausing to look up at Hermione, a little defensive.
"I am only a quarter Veela," Fleur replied. Hermione quirked a smile.
"Yet you're eating those strawberries rather quickly," Hermione teased. Fleur pouted.
"I'll move in," Fleur said, taking another bite of her dessert.
"Fantastic," Hermione beamed.
"On one condition—" Fleur interjected. Hermione's smile faltered and she rolled her eyes.
"Why am I surprised?" Hermione said, half joking.
"I get to redecorate our room," Fleur said, inclining her head and drawing her shoulders back haughtily.
"I… Redecorate… Our room?" Hermione inwardly cursed as her impressive brain short-circuited.
"Well, oui," Fleur replied, continuing with her dessert, "We sleep in the same bed. So same room, oui?"
Hermione nodded dumbly.
She had originally thought that Fleur would have her own room and stay with her only at night when they slept. But this idea made her feel warm inside. They would be sharing quarters properly… 'like a family,' Hermione's mind finished for her.
"Well, okay then," Hermione said, smiling again. She just hoped she wasn't letting her hopes get too high.
"Merci," Fleur replied, "You can get my things after dinner."
"I can—?!" Hermione spluttered, "Merlin, you are a princess!"
Fleur smirked.
"So you say!" Fleur giggled, "In return, I will do the dishes for you."
Hermione sighed. She supposed that was a fair enough trade. A part of her quite liked the idea of Fleur safe and warm at home, doing the dishes while Hermione braved the cold night to get everything in order.
When they finished dinner, Fleur stuck to her word, clearing the plates. Hermione smiled at her, heading off to Fleur's apartment.
Hermione felt a little odd arriving in the apartment. It was strange being there without Fleur. She grabbed a trunk that was leaning against a wall and opened it. She weighed up whether or not to use magic. Using magic would just cram absolutely everything in there. If she went by hand, she might be able to be more discerning in what she packed for the blonde.
She pulled open the first drawer she saw, blushing horrifically as she saw nothing but incredibly skimpy lingerie.
"Magic it is," Hermione mumbled to herself, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Accio Fleur's clothes," Hermione said, not even thinking.
Crash!
Hermione was pelted with flying clothing and shoes, forgetting her magic was super-powered at the moment.
Hermione fell to the floor, covering her head with her arms.
When the rumbling of flying clothes died down, Hermione got up. She brushed a stray singlet off her shoulder and picked something lacy off her head. She blushed as she saw the thin lacy material of the thong in her hand, dropping it as if she had been burned. She was sure Fleur wouldn't appreciate her handling her underwear.
Her jaw fell open as she saw the absolute mountain of clothes that had now entirely obscured the trunk.
'How is it possible for one woman to have so many clothes?' Hermione stared in wonderment.
She sighed, running a hand through her hair. This might take a little more effort than she originally thought.
Hermione got home later, pleased to see that the boys, Ginny and Luna had not returned yet.
Ducking into the kitchen, she was surprised to see it even more spotless than usual.
She ducked out again, taking the stairs two at a time. She burst into her bedroom, pausing mid-way through taking Fleur's shrunken suitcase out of her pocket.
"Fleur… What have you done with my room?" Hermione asked slowly. She was in shock.
She hadn't done anything to the shabby Grimmauld Place bedroom when she had got it. It was nice enough, with bookshelves for her books, a generous wardrobe and a large four-poster bed. Not to mention the comfy furniture cozily placed in front of the fireplace. She had simply added a desk in one corner of the room. Over time, her parchments, quills, ink and many stray books had built up around the edges of the room. She had been meaning to clear them, but never really had reason to.
Now, however, her room was entirely transformed. Fresh, stylish wallpaper adorned the walls. The thick and dusty velvet curtains had been replaced with new grey curtains. A nice rug was in front of the fireplace and the hearth above it was cleared except for a few ornaments and vases of flowers. There were pot plants around the room. The bedding had entirely changed to fresh white linen. Hermione even noticed the thickly carpeted floor was now pretty hardwood floor.
Fleur was sitting up in bed, nude. She was propped up by some of the dozens of cushions that had now been added, reading a book. She glanced up, looking very much like the cat that had got the cream.
"Oh, this?" Fleur asked innocently, "I love studying interior design magic in my spare time. I was quite limited in what I could do with no resources and little time, though. But this will do for now."
"This will—What?! Where are my books and papers?!" Hermione spluttered, looking around the room wildly, "You've made it all… Grown up and girly in here!"
"Well, you are a girl and you are very much grown up, non?" Fleur replied simply, flipping the page of her book, "Your books are back in their appropriate spot in the bookshelves and your papers are in your desk drawers. No need to panic."
"Well… Very well then," Hermione said, not entirely convinced at the drastic makeover her room had undertaken.
She un-shrunk Fleur's trunk and put it against a wall.
Grumbling under her breath, she glanced at Fleur to make sure she wasn't looking, then quickly changed into a tee and boxers for bed.
As she climbed into bed, Fleur put her book down on her bedside table, grinning at her.
"You know it looks better in here now," Fleur teased.
"Maybe, but it looked fine before," Hermione grumbled, settling down into the bed.
Fleur turned off the light, shuffling down in the bed and wrapping her arms around Hermione. She settled her head on Hermione's chest.
"I think you like it," Fleur said in the dark. Hermione could hear the smile in her voice. Inwardly, her stomach had a nice warm feeling at having Fleur so happy and content.
"Such a high maintenance woman," Hermione sighed, "Needing to entirely re-design a place before moving in."
"I had a really good time tonight," Fleur said, causing Hermione's stomach to flip, "Thank you."
Hermione smiled in the darkness.
Fleur wriggled against her and Hermione felt soft lips kiss her cheek before Fleur settled her head back down on her chest.
Hermione was grateful for the dark as she grinned her head off, a faint blush on her face.