Chapter 18.
Hermione couldn't get a read on how Fleur felt about going to Shell Cottage. The blonde kept aloof and distant as the small group readied to apparate.
Back in their prison outfits (Fleur in the oversized guard uniform), it didn't take them long to clean up the small cottage. They didn't have any belongings with them other than the clothes they had escaped in and the wand Fleur had got from Greg.
Hermione kept trying to catch a glimpse of what Fleur was thinking as they grouped together to apparate. Unreadable as always.
'Dammit.'
As they landed outside the front door of Shell Cottage, Hermione felt her stomach begin to tie into knots. Would Bill throw his arms around Fleur and forgive her? Would Fleur try to win him back? Would Bill somehow know that Hermione had bedded his wife the previous night?
Ron obliviously ploughed forward, knocking on the door.
The door opened a crack.
"Who is it?" a voice slipped out from inside the cottage.
"Ron," Ron replied simply.
"What did Ginny used to do as a child to get back at you?" the voice asked.
"Hide spiders in my shoes," Ron answered with a shudder.
The door flung open and Bill pulled Ron into a big bear hug. He released Ron, taking in the wider group.
"Sorry about that," Bill said, "You may have heard that The Order are now being viewed as an extremist group. They're wanting to bring us all in for questioning so we're all hiding out."
"S'okay," Ron answered, bowling past Bill and into the cottage, "Got any food? Any clothes? I need a shower too."
Harry followed Ron inside, leaving Fleur standing in front of Bill and Hermione awkwardly standing beside them. Hermione felt like the ultimate third wheel and tried not to look at either of them. She knew she should really follow the boys but she found herself rooted to the spot.
"Bill," Fleur said softly.
"Fleur," Bill said cautiously. His eyes flicked from Fleur to Hermione and back again.
"The circumstances of my arrest…" Fleur started, before trailing off.
"We can talk about it later," Bill said stiffly, "In private."
He turned around and walked into the cottage.
Fleur didn't look at Hermione, following him into the cottage. Hermione sighed, heading inside herself. She didn't want to dwell on how much that entire awkward conversation had bothered her.
Hermione was in a small bedroom in the cottage, freshly showered. Bill had told her that there were some old clothes of Fleur in the room that she could borrow. The boys had been given some of Bill's clothes and a room across the hall from Hermione.
Hermione didn't dare ask whether Fleur would be staying in the same room with Bill.
'I'm jealous…' Hermione sighed inwardly, 'Jealous of a husband being with his wife. Fantastic.'
She refocussed, towelling off and going over to a small set of drawers. She pulled open the top drawer, looking for clean underwear to borrow. Rummaging, Hermione blushed to the roots of her hair as she pulled out an incredibly skimpy, lacy pair of panties.
'Oh my God… There is so little here! How can this even count as clothing?!' Hermione's mind was whirring as she grew more flustered, 'Does she… Does she wear stuff like this…?'
Hermione found her mind once again replaying the steamy sexual encounter from the previous night.
"No," Hermione snapped at herself. She tossed the panties back in the drawer, pulling out a plain cotton pair instead and slamming the drawer shut.
She pushed all thoughts of Fleur from her mind, matter-of-factly taking out a long sleeved tee and a pair of jeans. Fleur was a little more slight than Hermione, so the clothes were tight on her. But anything was better than being stuck in Azkaban issue clothing.
Satisfied, Hermione headed out the door to the living area. Fleur was sitting awkwardly on a couch alone in the room. As Hermione entered, Fleur's eyes were drawn to her, roaming down the tight clothing slowly.
"Erm, hey," Hermione managed, trying not to get flustered by the way Fleur was looking at her.
"Hey," Fleur answered, dragging her eyes back up to meet Hermione's gaze.
A silence fell between them. Hermione scrambled inwardly. Now would be the time for conversation about what happened the previous night. For the first time since, they were alone.
Fleur opened her mouth, looking like she was about to say something.
"Hey Hermione," Bill greeted, entering the room.
Fleur shut her mouth again, averting her gaze from Hermione.
"Hey Bill," Hermione responded. She noticed the handsome redhead didn't greet his wife.
'If he is upset because he believes the rumours… Why is he being nice to me and cold to Fleur?' Hermione wondered.
Harry and Ron padded into the room. They still looked tired, but were now freshly shaved and tidily dressed in jeans and tees. Their hair was still damp from their showers.
"Got food, Bill?" Ron grunted.
Bill chuckled, already rummaging in the kitchen cupboards.
"You're predictable, you know that, Ron?" Bill said with a smile.
He clattered round in the kitchen, preparing a meal for them all. Harry went over to assist him, dishing up food into bowls. Hermione sat down at the table with Ron.
Hermione drummed her fingers restlessly on the wooden table, watching Fleur out of the corner of her eye. Fleur cautiously stalked over to join the table, sitting at the furthest end.
Harry walked over and placed some water on the table. Bill followed behind, carefully placing bowls of pasta in front of Ron and Hermione. He threw Fleur's bowl down in front of her forcefully, splattering sauce over the table top.
The Golden Trio looked at Bill curiously, but he sat down with his own food as if nothing were wrong. Fleur herself did not look surprised, with her usual veneer of aloofness.
Hermione wondered if they had perhaps had their conversation in private… If they had, Bill certainly wasn't happy with what he heard.
"God, it just feels so glad to be out," Harry sighed, running a hand through his messy black hair, "I still can't believe they even arrested us in the first place. What kind of bank robbers knock themselves unconscious? It was so clearly a set up! They didn't even bother to Imperius us!"
"You do have a history of fighting against the Imperius curse," Hermione reminded Harry of the faux-Moody trialling Unforgivable Curses on students at Hogwarts.
"Still… It just goes to show how far the bloody corruption goes," Ron grumbled through a mouthful of food. Harry nodded.
"Tonks said that they were getting more aurors who seemed aligned with Charles Pearson and the Justice Party," Bill said gravely.
Hermione shivered as she remembered the creepy thin man who had confronted Fleur and her at the magical creatures market.
"Tonks has had to leave the aurors and go underground," Bill added, "Once The Order were labelled a terrorist group there wasn't really much she could do. Everyone knew that she, Shacklebolt and Moody were members."
"So all the Order members are in hiding?" Hermione asked Bill. He nodded.
"Thankfully," Bill responded, "It's not great, but it's better than them managing to haul any of us in."
The rest of the meal went on in a stony silence. Exhaustion and frustration at the political situation was dampening the relief of freedom.
Bill and Fleur finished their meals early. Fleur washed her dish and cutlery quickly before disappearing upstairs. Bill did the same, following close behind her.
Ron shot a knowing look at Harry and Hermione, being able to read his older brother's moods. Sure enough, raised voices filtered down from upstairs as a loud argument erupted.
"Why can't I sleep in my own room?" Fleur's voice was shouting.
"Oh as if you even want to if I'm here! We all know where you would rather be sleeping!" Bill shouted back.
Hermione felt her stomach twist with intense guilt.
"Erm, so… What are we thinking our next moves will be?" Harry said loudly, attempting to talk loudly enough to drown out the argument.
"What is going on with them?" Ron interrupted, "I mean before we ended up in Azkaban they were under a lot of strain, sure… But they sound like they're breaking up,"
"What do you mean what is going on with them?" Hermione asked, confused. Had the boys really not heard? "You didn't hear the reason why Fleur and I ended up in prison together?"
Ron shook his head.
"They pretty much 'lost' every useful piece of paperwork for us, including our visitation forms," Ron replied, "And we didn't exactly have any mates to chat to in there. What happened?"
Hermione shook her head.
"Nothing, nothing, slander you know…" Hermione stammered awkwardly. Harry seemed to pick up on Hermione's discomfort, wrenching the conversation back.
"We really need to think next steps," Harry insisted, "We can't just all live underground forever."
"We need to counter Charles Pearson," Hermione responded. Ron nodded, following along with the change in conversation.
"We need a figurehead that can stand against him, show the people that The Order are on the right side… That the Justice Party are the extremists," Harry said, furrowing his brows.
"Yeah… Someone believable, reasonable… Someone the people can believe in," Hermione agreed.
"I think it should be you," Ron interjected.
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, surprised, "Why not Harry?! He's the Boy Who Lived! He's the figurehead of the whole defeat over the Dark Lord! Both times!"
"I think that's why I would be a bad choice," Harry responded, "There are so many heavy associations with my name already."
"I just—" Hermione was cut off as the argument upstairs moved to the staircase. It sounded like Fleur and Bill were coming downstairs.
"I'm going to hit the hay," Ron said awkwardly, stretching. Harry nodded.
"Probably a good idea," Hermione agreed.
The Golden Trio hurried to clean up their dishes and retreated to their rooms.
Hermione shut the door to the small bedroom she was staying in. She went and sat on the small double bed in the room, wondering what was going to happen with Bill and Fleur.
The only spare spot to sleep was in the room with her… Harry and Ron were sharing the double bed in the other guest room. But Hermione had a feeling that if Fleur and her were pushed into sharing a bed it might end up being a lot less platonic than the boys…
Hermione blushed, lying back on the bed and thinking about the whirlwind sex she had had with Fleur. She was growing incredibly aroused just at the memory.
'I shouldn't be thinking about this,' Hermione chided herself, biting her lip.
But her carefully controlled restraint had snapped. Hermione let her mind turn to the softness of Fleur's skin under hers. The way her toned body writhed at Hermione's touch.
Hermione's hand, almost unbidden, slipped down her stomach and under her waistband. Her senses were overcome with the memory of the little whimpers and moans Fleur had made. Hermione touched herself as she remembered all the things that she had done to Fleur and Fleur had done to her.
As she came, Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from calling out Fleur's name. Slack-limbed, Hermione removed her hand from her pants. Now the passion within her had been sated, she was left with the guilt.
She couldn't hear Fleur and Bill arguing anymore.
'Fleur herself had said their marriage had many obstacles… I'm not the reason for breaking up their marriage… And I don't even know for sure that they're breaking up… It could just be a normal fight…' Hermione's mind was buzzing with thoughts.
Hermione got up from the bed, shedding her clothes and changing into the boxers and wifebeater she had borrowed from Fleur's relative's cottage. She was exhausted and it wouldn't do her any good to stay up fretting about someone else's marriage. It wouldn't do her any good to beat herself up with guilt for a little self-pleasure while the couple were arguing. Besides, she was hardly the first person in the world to masturbate to the thought of Fleur.
Hermione clambered into bed, having satisfyingly pushed her guilt to one side for the moment. The second her head touched the pillow her eyes flickered shut and sleep overtook her.
Hermione got up and got out of bed immediately, rubbing her eyes. She felt energised after getting an early night's sleep.
Glancing out the window, she could see it was very early in the morning.
Hermione set about getting ready for the day, having a shower and selecting another pair of jeans and a long sleeved tee from the drawers in the spare room. She tried not to get distracted by skimpy lingerie in the drawers this time, although a blush still rose to her cheeks at the thought of Fleur wearing them.
Hermione finally walked out to the living area, finding the subject of her thoughts sitting on the sofa.
Fleur was sitting rigidly, her back incredibly straight as she looked out the window.
"Fleur?" Hermione asked softly, coming to sit beside Fleur.
"Morning," Fleur said quietly, not looking away from the window.
Hermione wondered if Fleur had even slept.
"Did you just sit here all night?" Hermione asked, a little worried about the blonde.
"I didn't have a room to sleep in," Fleur replied tensely.
Hermione put a hand on Fleur's thigh, squeezing it comfortingly.
"You could have come and stayed in my room," Hermione said. Fleur shook her head.
"That would be horrible to Bill," Fleur replied.
There was clattering on the stairway and Hermione removed her hand from Fleur's thigh, standing up and moving away. It was a good move on her part, as Bill emerged in the living area. He looked at Fleur, then at Hermione, his face dropping.
"Morning, Hermione," Bill greeted, before heading out the front door.
Fleur sighed, getting up and heading up the stairs. She had evidently been waiting for Bill to vacate their bedroom upstairs so she could freshen up for the day.
Hermione knew she should just mind her business and make a cup of tea. She should. But she walked outside instead.
Bill was sitting in the garden on a wooden bench. He was playing with a flower in his large hands, tearing petals off it. Hermione came and sat next to him.
"You okay?" Hermione asked.
"Will be," Bill grunted, not looking up and continuing to tear up the flower.
"If you don't mind me asking… Why are you so mad at Fleur but not at me?" Hermione asked.
Bill stopped what he was doing, looking up to meet Hermione's gaze.
"I knew it was a rumour when the news broke," Bill said slowly, "I knew that nothing substantial had happened, knew it in my gut."
Hermione didn't say anything, waiting for Bill to continue.
"When she was being held for questioning, I got a chance to talk to her alone briefly," Bill continued, "I confirmed with her that she hadn't actually slept with you like they were saying. But when I asked her… When I asked her if she wanted to… If she had actual feelings for you…"
Bill's voice faltered at this moment. He swallowed heavily, regaining his composure.
"She couldn't deny it," Bill finished, "Anyway… There have been some difficulties in our marriage for some time. But that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I couldn't move past that…. And she didn't fucking want to move past that."
"Oh…" Hermione said slowly. Fleur didn't want to move past her feelings for her?
"So, it isn't really about what feelings you might or might not have for my wife," Bill said sadly, "It's about the feelings she has for you that she hasn't had for me for a while."
"Oh…" Hermione said again. She inwardly cursed herself for not being able to think of anything else to say.
"It's fine, Hermione," Bill said, seeming to understand, "I don't blame you. I'm just mad at her… For not feeling the way I wished she felt… I dunno… It's easier to be mad at her."
Hermione nodded.
Bill and Hermione sat in a comfortable silence for a long time as the sun properly rose into the sky. Fleur's former beloved and Fleur's… future beloved? Hermione couldn't quite process it all.
It had all been quite a whirlwind. Fleur showing up as her lawyer… Hermione unexpectedly finding herself lusting after her… Fleur's own attraction towards her… And now this new state. They had slept together and it had been electric. Fleur was also developing feelings for Hermione by the sounds. If Hermione were honest, that last point didn't scare her as much as she had thought it might. In fact, she felt excited butterflies in her stomach at the thought of it.
Noises broke out from inside the cottage. People were up and making teas and food by the sounds. Bill grunted at Hermione and got up, heading inside. Hermione followed him.
Fleur was nursing a mug of black coffee at the table. Harry was sitting beside her, chatting good-naturedly as Ron prepared food in the kitchen.
"Hey guys," Harry greeted.
Fleur's eyes flicked up to look at Bill before settling on Hermione. Hermione could see the curiosity in them.
"Morning," Ron grunted, coming in with a large platter of pancakes. He brought over a wild array of condiments, fruits and sides with them.
"Jesus, Ron, trying to feed a small army?" Bill commented.
"Hey," Ron objected, his mouth somehow already full of pancakes, "Someone's gotta make sure that we're keeping our strength up."
"I am feeling loads better after a proper sleep, a shower and some food," Harry agreed.
"I didn't realise how rundown I was until I fell asleep immediately," Hermione agreed.
"I'm just glad you all felt safe enough to come here to get help and resources," Bill said, tucking into his own plateful of food.
"We could have gone to Grimmauld Place but it has been fairly abandoned for a while now… There wouldn't have been any food or clothes," Harry said with an apologetic shrug.
"It's fine," Bill smiled, "You can stock up here."
"Well, if it is okay, we wouldn't mind taking some food and clothes with us and setting up at Grimmauld Place for our next steps," Harry suggested, "As much as I enjoy sharing a bed with Ron… It is a little crowded here."
Bill laughed good naturedly.
"I get that," Bill replied, "No problem. The Order are currently using unconventional birds to send word to each other. There is a seagull I use here that we can send out to arrange for some more resources to arrive at Grimmauld Place."
"Perfect," Hermione chirped.
With all the awkwardness of being around both Bill and Fleur at the same time, Hermione was relieved as the possibility of moving out to somewhere with more space.