A/N: Hi all, thanks for any reviews or follows :) I love your comments.
As before, bold means speaking in French.
Fleur could not express how much it meant to her to be able to converse freely in French. To be able to be at ease in a family member's company. To be able to connect with her baby sister who had now grown into a worldly teen seemingly overnight.
Gabrielle had recently come of age and was relishing the ability to magic every minor task she needed to do. Fleur shook her head with a smile while watching her sister wave a wand to stir her cup of coffee. The sun was shining in and gleaming on Gabrielle's silver-blonde hair. It was so like Fleur's but naturally wavy. Sometimes Fleur envied her sister's more 'at ease' appearance. Often when they were together in public Fleur felt like the ice queen and like her sister was the lively little charmer.
Gabrielle laughed delightedly as she flicked her wand to make the spoon backflip out of the coffee mug.
"I'm glad you took this week off work to catch up with me," Gabrielle said with a large smile, "I feel as if we are almost getting to know each other all over again… only without so many secrets this time."
Fleur nodded. It was certainly very different being around a grown up Gabrielle, telling her about her latest boyfriend, Emile.
"So, all the papers say that the Golden Girl is with the redheaded boy… I did not realise she was into women?" Gabrielle said, flipping lazily through a Daily Prophet that featured yet another gossip column about the Golden Trio.
"I did not realise either…" Fleur admitted, remembering how shocked she had been when Hermione had drunkenly kissed her goodbye at her first party with Harry's friends.
"So how did… this" Gabrielle waved her hand vaguely, "end up happening?"
Fleur blushed, she was unsure about speaking about such things to her sister. She took a gulp of her own coffee, thinking about how Gabrielle had just freely told her about her sexual exploits with young men in France. 'She is not a child anymore,' Fleur thought to herself.
"The Veela…" Fleur started awkwardly, blushing harder, "the Veela recognised her as a mate and she noticed me acting differently around her…"
"Your Veela recognised her as a mate?" Gabrielle said, somewhat astonished, placing her coffee back down on the table. Fleur exhaled uncomfortably.
"Yes, well, Veela have many mates," Fleur blustered, "And I was able to stop submitting to her as soon as we… well…" Fleur trailed off and sipped on her coffee again, embarrassed.
"Veela don't have that many mates," Gabrielle started, "I suppose you never had anyone that serious in your life before you stumbled straight into marrying Bill… But with the boyfriends I have had, Maman and Papa have given me many long lectures about Veela mating," Gabrielle stopped at this and visibly cringed at the uncomfortable memories of her parents sitting her down to give her "the (Veela) talk."
Fleur raised an eyebrow, "I understood that Veela can have more than one mate in a lifetime and that the sign of a potential mate is the instinctive mating behaviour of submission?"
Gabrielle sighed, "Veela can have more than one mate, but it is still rare. Many will only meet one or two mates in their lifetime. I cannot believe you avoided being subjected to those godawful talks with our parents, Fleur!"
Fleur cocked her head to one side, suddenly reconsidering everything, "So Hermione was possibly my only mate?"
"IS possibly," Gabrielle corrected, using her wand to play with the spoon on the table. She had always been a fidgety child.
"No, my Veela does not submit to her anymore," Fleur said, biting her lip and watching as the spoon began crawling around the table like a silver caterpillar.
Gabrielle sighed again, heavier, "I never thought I would see the day where I would be teaching you the ways of the world, older sister. The submission is just to draw the proud Veela and her mate together. Once you have… you know… you have reached the second stage of the mating process, bonding."
Fleur knocked over her coffee mug, cursing at the coffee spilling all over the table. Gabrielle happily cleared it up in an instant, enjoying yet another reason to flex her magic.
"Merlin, Gabrielle, what else don't I know?! Is there a fifth step involving playing the tambourine that our parents have neglected to tell me also?!"
Gabrielle laughed, but did feel bad for her sister and her strained (now non-existent) relationship with their parents, "No, Fleur, there are just those two stages. I have to say I am surprised that even Hermione has not told you about this- She does seem awfully knowledgeable about our kind for an outsider-Or maybe she assumed from your partial knowledge that you already knew?"
Fleur sighed heavily and placed her face in her hands. Gabrielle rose and gave her a reassuring hug.
"Now, Fleur, it will not do for you to be upset for the one week I am in town," Gabrielle said with an infectious smile, "I finally have breathing space from Emile to go and dance with whoever I want! Lets go out tonight."
Fleur reluctantly lowered her hands from her face and looked at the hopeful and excited face of her sister. Gabrielle's charm really was too infectious.
"Fine, Gabrielle." Fleur said, watching with amusement as her sister beamed with glee.
That evening, as they sat down to dinner with Hermione, Gabrielle could not keep still.
"'Ermione we are going out tonight to ze London wizarding clubs," Gabrielle chirped, magically refilling her glass of wine, "Do you want to join us?"
Fleur rolled her eyes at her charismatic sister, "Gabrielle, unlike me, Hermione has not taken the week off work! She cannot simply go out drinking on a week night!"
Hermione laughed at the two sisters and their light hearted squabbling. "Actually, I haven't had a proper night out in town for a while, I'd love to join you." Hermione said accio-ing a wine glass for herself over to the table. Gabrielle clapped her hands delightedly.
"Oh, magnifique!" she beamed, "I 'ave to say, I did not expect zis from ze, ah, straight-laced bookworm of ze Golden Trio."
Fleur diplomatically looked down at her plate and prodded at a piece of pasta with her fork. She hadn't told Gabrielle about Hermione's post-war issues and tendency to let loose with unpredictable results.
"Well, I do know how to cut loose," Hermione said, laughing good naturedly. Fleur felt both a thrill at the sound of Hermione's laugh and a pang of anxiety over Hermione indulging in unhealthy habits when she had been making such strides with her therapy.
But such thoughts were pushed to one side as Gabrielle began telling a long and outrageous story about a girl from her class, once again commanding attention of the room with her charm.
Hermione was having an entertaining night. She herself had only indulged in two glasses of wine, choosing instead to enjoy the unintentional comedy duo that was Gabrielle and Fleur. They were so similar, and at the same time polar opposites.
Where Fleur was reserved and stand-offish, Gabrielle was outgoing and charismatic. Fleur's default move in an uncomfortable situation was to close off and go ice cold, whereas for Gabrielle it was to become even more extroverted and playful. It made for several hilarious clashes during the night as the girls squabbled over outfits and shoes and where to go.
Even now, in their third bar of the night, the difference between the two girls' personalities was striking. As their thrall naturally drew in many men, and some women, Gabrielle laughed raucously, playfully flirting with them all and accepting the free drinks offered. Fleur, in comparison, maintained an aloof demeanour towards all who approached her that she did not already know. She insisted on buying her own drinks and did not flirt back with her many suitors, instead only offering them an icy smile.
The more the two Delacour girls drank, the more they shot little asides in French at each other, pouting at the behaviour of the other. Hermione wished she had bothered to keep up her Muggle school French lessons, she felt she was missing some really entertaining jibes.
At this point, Fleur was frowning at Gabrielle nestling in to a muscly wizard with a scruffy beard. Gabrielle shoved Fleur playfully, although drunkenly a little too hard, and Hermione came to separate the two.
"Dearest Fleur, just because you 'ave found your mate does not mean I cannot keep looking!" Gabrielle slurred.
Fleur frowned and looked put out, "She only wanted to be friends with me until recently, Gabrielle!"
"Psh, even after…?" Gabrielle said, waving a hand drunkenly.
"Oui, in fact she told me directly after our first time zat we should only be frainds," Fleur said, her accent thickening with her intoxication.
Gabrielle's eyes widened and she looked at Hermione with her mouth hanging open. It was almost cartoonish.
"'Ermione! You never told me zis when you called for me!" she exclaimed, wriggling out of the clutches of her muscly man, "I 'ad no idea you were such a… fuckboy to my soeur!"
Hermione opened and shut her mouth without talking. She hadn't anticipated that their drunken ramblings would lead to this. It was awkward.
"'Ermione!" Gabrielle said, now pouting like a small child, "You absolutement must apologise to my sister this second!"
With that she pushed both Fleur and Hermione with her hands as if shooing small animals. She whirled around to find a thin handsome man offering her a wine, which she gratefully accepted.
"Fleur…" Hermione said, a little uncomfortable. Fleur was quite drunk and looked put out by the subject being brought up.
"You knew zat Veela 'ave very few mates?" Fleur said slowly, flicking her long sheet of silver-blonde hair over one shoulder. Hermione took her arm and led her to a small booth to the side of the dance floor and bar.
"Well… yes…" Hermione said, playing with her nails.
"And you knew zat sleeping with me was ze first step of ze bonding process?" Fleur asked again, her eyes sharp with curiosity despite her intoxication.
Hermione sighed, "Yes… but I wanted to…"
"But zen you immediately did not want to?" Fleur countered, "You just wanted ze casual sex? To casually see me?"
Hermione cringed, she knew that Fleur would be bound to needle her more on the subject after her initial apology. She swallowed hard.
"I… wanted to bond with you…" Hermione began, awkward under the intense stare of Fleur, "At first I was in denial about being into a woman… but then, I gave in… But then after it happened, I panicked and knew the next stage is bonding… I didn't want you to end up bonded with a mess like me. I didn't want you to pin one of your few—or even only- attempt at happiness on me when I just let everyone down."
Fleur raised an eyebrow, "But now you 'ave changed your mind again and want to date me?"
Hermione picked at a nail uncomfortably. "I just… I don't want to be the person that lets everyone down anymore… I want to be the person that you can rely on, that makes you happy."
At this Fleur paused, thinking it over, before giving a drunken little smile. She leaned in to kiss Hermione but Hermione put a finger on her lips. It was hard refusing a kiss from the stunning Veela woman, especially when she could feel how soft her lips were under her finger.
"No… I want our first kiss after starting over to be perfect," Hermione murmured. And with that they got up, ready to look for Gabrielle. Hermione suppressed a yelp as a very drunk Fleur grabbed her ass. Instead she went and took the offending hand in hers, and walked to find Gabrielle, their hands interlaced. What they didn't see, was a scruffy redheaded man hunched over at the bar, watching them.