A/N: Hi all, another chapter hot off the press! Please do keep the reviews coming! Even the most vague review brightens my day and keeps me motivated!
"Hermione,"
Hermione awoke feeling warm and cosy. Too warm and cosy.
She became aware that her face was nestled into a soft expanse of skin. Her face was firmly buried in Fleur's cleavage. Hermione, still drowsy, kept it there as she tried to place the voice calling her in from slumber.
"Hermiiiione," the sweet voice called again.
Hermione murmured sleepily and nuzzled her face in further.
"Hermione, I need you to get your face out of there, mon ami," the voice was sweet like syrup, with a French accent teasing at Hermione's ears.
Fleur.
Hermione realized she had her face nuzzled in Fleur's pregnancy enhanced cleavage and wrenched her head up so fast it made her neck click.
She came face to face with bright azure eyes that were thoroughly amused.
"Er, sorry, Fleur," Hermione mumbled. She was flush up against the woman with her arms tightly around her.
"It is okay, Hermione," Fleur said gently, her eyes still mirthful, "But I need to get up for work."
"Right," Hermione agreed.
Fleur smirked and arched an eyebrow.
"So if you could take your hands off my ass so I could get out of bed?" Fleur suggested.
Hermione yelped and removed her hands from where they were placed, firmly holding Fleur's rear.
"Er, sorry again," Hermione apologized profusely, sitting up and scooting back so she was sitting against the bedhead. Her hair was tousled from sleep and one of the shoulders of her singlet had fallen down, revealing more of her olive skin than she usually felt comfortable revealing.
"It is okay, but I have a schedule to meet," Fleur smiled serenely. She ran her hand through her silky platinum hair, preening it to perfection.
As she stood up, Hermione let her eyes rake Fleur's body, settling on the baby bump. Fleur was nearing her third trimester now. They were more than halfway through. Only a few more months until they would meet their baby boy.
Fleur sashayed around the room, getting herself ready for work. She put on a nice dress and did her makeup, before looking at her large collection of shoes.
"You shouldn't wear heels if you're going to be on your feet all day," Hermione advised. Fleur groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Hermione, it is one of the few niceties I have left when it comes to my appearance," Fleur huffed.
"Fleur," Hermione sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you? You still look incredibly beautiful."
Hermione was all too aware of that fact, the wetness and throbbing between her legs making it hard to concentrate. The delightful manner in which she had awoken was making it hard to focus on being supportive of the blonde. All she really wanted to do was pull Fleur back into bed and tear her clothes right back off again.
But they were taking things slow.
They hadn't even talked about things since the last Grimmauld Place party.
While they ended up snogging at least once a day these days, Hermione was still very much interested in taking it further. She wanted to date Fleur. She wanted to call Fleur her girlfriend. She wanted, Merlin permitting, to at the very least shag Fleur one more time.
She was falling more and more each day for the blonde.
While she had always been aware of Fleur's physical appeal (and, God, that awareness had spiked in recent months), the more time she spent with Fleur, the more it was mingling with an emotional attraction.
Fleur was very shy and reserved, similar to Alexandre. She was also quite creative, often working on styling Grimmauld Place or pulling together bits and pieces to make art for their room.
Her default when uncomfortable had always been to close off even more and get cold. But the more time Hermione spent with the blonde, the more the blonde grew comfortable around her. More often, conversations turned into playful teasing or earnest chats instead of cold silence.
Hermione didn't like to think about how easily she could have missed seeing this side of Fleur. She always used to write Fleur off as arrogant and cold. While she was, there was so much more to her.
Fleur, in turn, was very curious about the brunette. She asked many questions of the prodigy, making Hermione's exam study difficult. But she couldn't be too annoyed at the blonde. It was adorable how casual Fleur tried to play it when she was very interested in something. She would flit around Hermione, playing with her hair, an aloof look on her face.
"Up to much today?" Fleur asked, checking her hair in the mirror.
There it was, pretending not to be interested, yet so obviously eager to hear what Hermione was planning to do with her day. Hermione suppressed a smile.
"Just more study," Hermione shrugged.
In truth, she was taking a rare break from study. It was the day before Fleur's birthday and Hermione had to stop procrastinating and find the woman a birthday gift. She was going to head out shopping with Harry and Ron.
The boys would head off to play Quidditch at midday, despite being woefully unprepared for their own exams. At that point, Hermione would meet up with Ginny if she hadn't found anything good.
"Studying anything interesting?" Fleur asked casually, now fixing her makeup.
"Oh, you know, still the same old things," Hermione shrugged, "I should really put aside some time to prepare for the job interview I have coming up at the Ministry, though. Professor Helios did seem to put in a lot of effort arranging it."
"A job interview?" Fleur echoed, "You never told me about that. Where is it?"
Hermione swung herself out of bed, stretching and digging her toes into the rug beside the bed. She stifled a yawn.
"Well, we've had more pressing things going on with you and the baby," Hermione said dismissively, "The job is at the Department of Magical Creatures. I'm hoping to work in their policy department. There are many things in that area well overdue for updating."
"Really?" Fleur asked, turning to face Hermione. She quirked an eyebrow. Her ability to hide her interest was beginning to slip.
"Yes, really," Hermione smiled, "I dream of a world where you and our son wouldn't have to fill in a stack of extra paperwork to go to a country or face prejudice."
Fleur rested a hand on her pregnant stomach, stepping close to Hermione. A smile grew on her face as she gazed at Hermione. The brunette felt her stomach flip, an all too familiar sensation when it came to Fleur.
"I remember when I went to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament," Fleur said slowly, her smile growing, "You had a society then for protecting house elves. Terrible name, but amazing cause."
"S.P.E.W?" Hermione brightened, "I still don't see why people hated the name so much. I can't believe you noticed it! Even more, I can't believe you remember it!"
Fleur beamed, showing her perfect white teeth. It was rare to get Fleur so relaxed that she smiled so widely. It was enough to make Hermione's heart melt.
"Of course I noticed," Fleur said quietly, "You were the brightest witch of your year and it was an amazing cause. I didn't think anyone here cared about creature rights but there you were."
Fleur was very close now and Hermione was finding it harder to concentrate. It was easy to get lost in Fleur's sapphire eyes. They expressed all the emotion that Fleur carefully held back.
Fleur leaned in suddenly, kissing Hermione.
Hermione kissed back, her hands creeping to their spot on Fleur's hips. Fleur's hands clasped behind Hermione's neck, tightening a little as Hermione deepened the kiss.
When the kiss broke, Hermione sighed happily. Fleur smiled at her, her slender fingers idly drawing circles on Hermione's shoulders.
"Aren't you going to be late?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow.
Fleur let out a disappointed sigh.
"Oui," Fleur replied, "But we can finish this later."
"Talking about my job prospects?" Hermione asked.
"Oui, but also this," Fleur leaned in and kissed Hermione gently. It was brief, she pulled away almost instantly, but Hermione felt a thrill rush through her. Sometimes even the most chaste kiss from Fleur could totally scramble Hermione's brilliant mind.
"I… Gah…" Hermione cursed how slow her brain was in the wake of a simple kiss from Fleur.
Fleur shot her a satisfied smirk.
"You are so cute," Fleur commented, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Okay, I really do need to go. Au revoir!"
She leaned in and pecked Hermione on the cheek before gliding out the door.
Hermione sighed heavily like a lovestruck fool, padding over to the mirror to attempt to tame her tangled curls. She grinned goofily at the sight of Fleur's lipstick on her lips and cheek. She liked the feeling of being Fleur's, as much as she loved the thought of Fleur being hers.
Hopefully, she could bowl Fleur away enough on her birthday that they could finally have the talk about taking things to the next level.
Hermione wandered about the department store cluelessly with Harry and Ron.
"Seriously, guys! It's important that I get her something that blows her away!" Hermione said desperately to Harry and Ron.
"Everyone loves a broom, 'Mione!" Harry insisted, clutching a broom catalogue. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"In what world would a heavily pregnant woman be hitting the Quidditch pitch?" Hermione said sardonically.
"Why so much pressure?" Ron asked, tossing a Sneak-O-Scope up and down. He had been incredibly confused when Hermione had vetoed his suggestion to get Fleur's gift from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes.
"Because I want her to be my girlfriend," Hermione said, blushing and looking away.
The boys dropped the Sneak-O-Scope and broom catalogue in surprise.
"Really?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows, "I didn't know things had taken that turn!"
Hermione blushed darker, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Well… We have been kissing quite a bit lately…" Hermione said bashfully, rubbing the back of her neck.
Ron swore.
"You lucky sod!" Ron exclaimed jealously, "God… Imagine if I'd been the one to knock her up…"
"You would've still had to seduce her in the first place," Hermione shot back, "Anyway, nothing is official or anything yet. But I really would like it to be. I think if I get her a thoughtful gift it might be the thing that makes her want to be in an honest-to-Merlin relationship with me."
"Or, I dunno, you could just ask her out?" Ron replied, kicking at the floor.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I think a thoughtful gift really would be a broom," Harry said earnestly, "Hear me out, they have a new Firebolt III out in the market now!"
"Merlin! You boys are no help!" Hermione groaned.
Harry and Ron shrugged apologetically, before sloping off to play Quidditch.
Hermione was fretting quite a bit about the gift for Fleur by the time she met up with Ginny.
Ginny ran up to meet her, doubling over and panting when she skidded to a stop. She was in a state of disarray. She was wearing a short torn jean skirt and a white tee, a plaid button-up tied around her waist. Her flaming hair was flowing past her shoulders.
"Are you okay, Gin?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Fi-fine," Ginny panted, straigtening up again, "I've just had quite a bit of nervous energy lately so I've been trying to take every opportunity to be active to burn it off."
"Nervous energy?" Hermione asked, a little concerned, "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," Ginny said evasively, "So, did you find a gift for Fleur?"
"Nope," Hermione groaned, running a hand through her hair, "Harry and Ron were absolutely hopeless."
"Well, duh," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes, "Have you seen what they're like with girls?"
"Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do, Gin," Hermione sighed, "I just want to make her birthday special. I really want her to be my girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Ginny replied, "Wow, you have come a LONG way, Hermione! Okay, well what does she like?"
"Girly things," Hermione replied, scrunching up her nose, "Fashion, art…"
"Hermione," Ginny chided, "Think!"
"Er, she loves her baby sister," Hermione shrugged.
"You could think of a way to help her keep in contact with her sister more easily?" Ginny asked, "I know you can't just get her sister a phone since wizarding schools have charms in place to interfere with Muggle technology."
"Hmmm… But what can I give her?" Hermione asked, tapping her chin. She was perplexed.
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Ginny replied encouragingly.
They walked down the street together aimlessly, unsure of which shop to go to. Hermione noticed her redheaded friend was looking upset.
"Okay, seriously, what is going on with you?" Hermione asked. She had never seen Ginny quite like this.
"Nothing," Ginny grumbled, kicking at a stone on the street.
'Wait for it…' Hermione thought inwardly.
Ginny was a creature of habit and Hermione knew that she could never hold back what was bothering her for long.
"I think I like girls as well as boys," Ginny said, cringing.
Hermione tried not to smile at the redhead.
"Well, I'm not surprised considering the predicament you ended up in with Sophie," Hermione said carefully.
Ginny cringed again.
"I mean… Her hair was just so silky and soft…. And her lips… Merlin!" Ginny sighed.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Hermione said honestly, "Obviously I know a little bit about what you're going through. Just don't overthink it."
"Don't overthink it!" Ginny exclaimed, "Merlin, who would have thought we would ever end up in a situation where you would be the one giving me that advice!"
Hermione laughed. Things sure had changed a lot.
Soon, it was Fleur's birthday.
Hermione had spent much of the day in a last minute tailspin, hurriedly arranging a gift for Fleur.
The blonde had got up early for work. So early that Hermione had not even been able to see her in the morning.
But now she was patiently waiting outside Gringotts for the blonde.
Fleur stepped outside, the sun shining on her white-blonde hair, making it glitter with its silver quality. She was wearing a nice dress and heels. Hermione was relieved—she wouldn't have to come up with a gambit to get Fleur to change for dinner.
Hermione was leaning against a railing, her hands behind her back. She had taken extra care to organize her curls into some semblance of tidiness. She had dressed tidily in some tailored checkered pants, rolled up to show her ankle and neatly polished black brogues. She had tucked in a crisp white dress shirt that was tailored perfectly to fit her figure. Her brunette curls tumbled loosely over the shoulders of the shirt.
It appeared she had polished up well enough, judging from the way Fleur's eyes lit up when she spotted her.
"You… Wow…"
It was not often that Fleur was left wanting for words. Or showing her reactions so freely. Hermione felt herself buoyed by the reaction she had elicited from the blonde. Fleur was all but slack jawed.
"Happy birthday, Fleur," Hermione smiled.
Fleur's eyebrows raised.
"I never told you it was my birthday," Fleur said, surprised.
Hermione winked, loving the way she was throwing Fleur off.
"I have my ways," Hermione grinned, offering her arm to the woman, "Now, I believe we have a dinner reservation to meet."
Fleur took her arm, still smiling with surprise.
Hermione led her on a pleasant walk through the streets as the sun set.
"What have you organized, Hermione?" Fleur asked. To Hermione's amusement, she was doing the thing where she tried to appear like she was barely interested, when really she was dying of curiosity.
"Oh, you wouldn't be interested," Hermione teased, "You'll find out when we get there."
Fleur pouted, trying to be patient and keep her composure.
She lasted less than five minutes.
"Ohhh, come on, Hermione! Tell me where we are going!" Fleur whined. Hermione giggled.
"Oh, I'm not sure I should tell you… You are the birthday girl after all…" Hermione grinned wider, tapping her chin with mock-thoughtfulness.
Fleur lost her patience then, suddenly twisting and pinning Hermione to the wall of a nearby shop.
"Do not mess with a pregnant woman, amour," Fleur challenged, her eyes glittering with silver specks.
Hermione giggled more.
"I wouldn't dream of it, Fleur," Hermione smiled, "We're here."
The French term of endearment was not lost on Hermione, boosting her mood even more. Fleur released her, looking around curiously.
"There are only closed shops here, Hermione," Fleur said, confused.
Hermione smoothed her shirt and hair, beaming at Fleur.
"Closed shops and one of London's most exclusive eateries," Hermione winked.
She stepped forward, tapping an intricate pattern on the wall that Fleur had just pressed her against. The bricks shifted and moved, revealing an emerald door and a small sign.
Fleur gasped.
"Milton's! I have been wanting to come here for years!" Fleur exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "But it is near impossible to get a booking! They only take one group at a time and it makes it so hard to get a booking!"
"I may have flexed my Golden Trio status for once…" Hermione said, shrugging, "I don't like the fame, but it was worth it to see the look on your face right now."
Fleur leaned forward and kissed Hermione passionately. Hermione felt herself swoon at the sudden affection of the blonde and had to remind herself that it wasn't her birthday.
"Merci, Hermione!" Fleur beamed, breaking the kiss, "What a fantastic birthday surprise."
"Oh—it's not over yet," Hermione grinned, taking Fleur's hand.
She opened the door and led Fleur down a dimly lit staircase. She could feel Fleur practically squirming with curiosity.
They got to the bottom of the staircase to the small intricate dining room of Milton's. A large table was in the middle of the room, prettily decorated with flowers and candles. Around the table were the Delacours, Bill, Harry and Ron.
"Mon Dieu!" Fleur exclaimed.
Her family got up and rushed up to hug both Hermione and Fleur, startling the brunette. She wheezed as the group hug crushed her. She supposed it wasn't quite an appropriate place to morph into cat form to wriggle out of it.
Finally, the Delacours released Hermione and Fleur.
"Hey, Hermione!" Gabrielle greeted, "Maman and Papa let me out of school especially for this trip!"
"Lucky girl!" Hermione smiled, tousling Gabrielle's pretty blonde hair.
"You clean up well, Hermione," Alexandre commented, backed up by an emphatic nod from Apolline.
"And you are positively glowing Fleur!" Cassandra purred, eying Fleur with a proud smile.
Fleur shrugged, dismissively, although she looked quietly pleased.
"I am pregnant," Fleur replied. Cassandra shook her head.
"It is more than that, dear child," Cassandra beamed, looking between Fleur and Hermione approvingly.
"Okay, let's give our Fleur some space," Alexandre interrupted politely, ushering the Delacour clan back to their seats at the table.
Bill stood up, approaching Fleur sheepishly.
He was formally dressed and looking impeccable. He was wearing a white shirt and a forest green tie clipped back with a gold tie clip, paired with some black suit pants. His hair was loose today, wavy and reaching just below his shoulders. He had groomed it to perfection, reminding Hermione of a more lively Lucius Malfoy style. He had also carefully trimmed his beard for the occasion so it was looking more tidy than it usually did. There was no fang earring in sight.
He was fumbling with a small gift wrapped in bright blue wrapping paper.
"Fleur… I just want to say I'm sorry for acting like an ass lately," Bill said, eyes downcast guiltily, "I guess I do have my own issues and it's unfair to project all that on you."
Fleur smiled gracefully, erupting butterflies within Hermione's stomach.
"Bill, we encourage each other," Fleur replied with a smile, "Sometimes the good things within us, sometimes the bad. Thank you for apologizing, it means a lot."
Bill pulled Fleur into a hug, kissing her on the cheek. When he withdrew, he handed her the gift.
They all took their seats, Hermione sitting close beside Fleur.
Fleur looked delighted as gifts were handed to her, excitedly unwrapping them immediately. Hermione had wisely brought her satchel to carry home Fleur's gifts, which turned out to be a godsend as the Delacours showered Fleur with a great number of gifts.
Bill's gift to Fleur turned out to be a pocket edition of Advanced Cursebreaking: Tomb Raider Edition to the pleasure of the blonde. Harry and Ron had gone in together on a nice book on interior design which Fleur very much appreciated.
"I guess that leaves my gift," Hermione said, suddenly shy. She hoped Fleur would like it. In the end, she hadn't spent a cent on the gift. After seeing all the lavish gifts from Fleur's family, it had Hermione worrying that Fleur might not like it.
She handed Fleur her gift, humbly wrapped in brown paper and twine.
"Merci, Hermione," Fleur thanked her, excitedly unwrapping it.
"It isn't much…" Hermione mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck.
Fleur unwrapped the package, revealing two ornate hand mirrors. A couple of years earlier, Harry had gifted the two mirrors, in a broken state, to Hermione. He had previously used them to communicate with Sirius when he was alive and for him they held too many painful memories. He gave them to Hermione to give her a project—fixing the mirrors. He had hoped that eventually she could find a more positive use for them. With Harry's blessing, Hermione had fixed them up in order to gift them to Fleur.
"They work as a communication device," Hermione explained, "You have one, Gabrielle can have the other one… Then whenever you like, you can look in the mirror and see one another."
"Magnifique!" Fleur exclaimed, overjoyed. Gabrielle, on Fleur's other side, reached over and grabbed one of the mirrors, overcome with excitement.
"I do hope you like it," Hermione said bashfully.
"I love it! It is so perfect!" Fleur gushed, leaning in and kissing Hermione on the cheek, "You always find a way to spoil me!"
Hermione blushed. Harry shot her a discreet thumbs-up from across the table. Ron was too busy gaping at Cassandra quite openly, making the odd gurgling noise between shovelfuls of food. It gave Hermione further encouragement that she and Harry were gifted with being able to withstand a Veela thrall.
"So how has it been living with this lot?" Alexandre asked Fleur, gesturing at the Golden Trio.
Fleur smirked.
"Well… The accommodation needed a lot of redecoration," Fleur replied, "It was lacking a feminine touch."
"Hey!" Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved Fleur playfully.
"It is looking really nice now," Harry conceded, "Almost like a modern home! She's done really well with not erasing any memories of my late Godfather but getting rid of all the memories of his bigoted family."
"It's… Beautiful…" Ron sighed, his eyes firmly on Cassandra.
Gabrielle giggled.
"Hermione, I think your friend is very susceptible to the Veela thrall," Gabrielle commented. Effectively proving Gabrielle's point, Ron didn't even notice her comment, continuing to gaze at Gabrielle's grandmother instead.
To Hermione's relief, the Delacours found this amusing, laughing instead of getting annoyed.
The rest of the dinner went well, amiable conversation flowing. Bill was in good spirits and seemed eager to get along with Fleur after their falling out, although Hermione did notice he still wasn't talking to her that much.
As they all rose to head off after the meal, Cassandra approached Hermione and pulled her to one side.
Her strangely youthful face was watching Hermione intensely. Hermione again felt the undercurrent of danger that always accompanied Cassandra's warm demeanor.
"You and Fleur are getting closer," Cassandra announced, in her oddly hypnotic voice.
"We are," Hermione nodded, "Did she say something?"
"No, but I can see it," Cassandra smiled, "The closer your bond becomes, the more you thrive. Fleur is looking more radiant than ever. She looks incredibly healthy. You must be feeling the changes too."
Hermione tried to think. Since the regular snogging had happened, she had been feeling on top of the world. She had just put that down to enjoying kisses from Fleur.
Now she thought about it, she had been incredibly productive with her studying, even though she had been more distracted than ever. She'd also been feeling well rested and noticing she wasn't getting as puffed as usual when running up and down the stairs.
"Wow… I guess so…" Hermione conceded, "So what does it mean, if we continue, erm, getting closer?"
Cassandra smiled wider.
"Well, you will have a choice to make, Hermione," Cassandra said softly, "Eventually the bond will progress so far you will have to make the active decision to accept her as your mate, or not."
"Oh! Well, why can't I just do that now?" Hermione asked eagerly.
Cassandra silenced her with a slender finger on her lips.
"Non," Cassandra said abruptly, "Right now either of you can walk away without getting hurt. Fleur wouldn't be able to date again, but she would be healthy and happy. But once you accept the bond, you will not be able to leave the relationship. You will both fall terribly ill."
"Oh… I see…" Hermione said, the brevity of the situation hitting home, "How long until I have to make that decision?"
Cassandra shrugged.
"It is difficult to say, but it will be obvious when you reach that point," Cassandra said. Hermione hated how vague Cassandra could be, but didn't want to argue the point.
"Hermione, are you coming?" Fleur called from over by her parents, sister and Bill, "Harry and Ron have already apparated home."
Cassandra ran a hand down Hermione's shoulder slowly.
"Au revoir, Hermione," Cassandra purred, "Do think on what we have discussed."
"Er, I will," Hermione nodded.
She walked over to Fleur, kissing her on the cheek. She took Fleur's hand and led her out of the restaurant, her mind deep in thought on what Cassandra had told her.