Fleur awoke, the previous night a blur, she could only remember that they had confessed their feelings (or rather their once upon a time crushes), and yet somehow she was here, in her bed. As she gathered her wits about her, trying to remember how the rest of the night had gone, she slowly became aware that she wasn't actually alone, more when the body next to her rolled over, an arm outstretched, searching for something.

Panic began to set in as that arm wrapped tightly around her body and Fleur slowly turned her head towards the body that owned that arm, remembering that the only person left was Hermione. A secret hope in the back of her mind that Harry had returned, but logically knowing that he and Bill both had been trying to push her and Hermione together.

Seeing a bushy brown head of hair covering the majority of the face, she winced, knowing it was Hermione, knowing what was to come, she slowly slipped out of bed, trying not to wake the still sleeping girl. It was only made worse with the realization she was naked, leaving no doubt in her mind of what their activities had included, though the memories of which still eluded her. Flashes of kisses and ghosts of touches were all that she could remember.

She grabbed some sweats and made her way quietly to the bathroom, forming a plan in her mind, she was going to shower and sneak out for the day, needing coffee, and food, really she needed food, and hope that she wouldn't have to face Hermione any time soon.

She turned on the water and stepped under the warm spray of water, feeling it melt the stress away, as her mind pieced together the consequences of her actions, actions she couldn't really even remember doing. That was exactly how she wanted her first time with her mate to be, she couldn't help but think sarcastically.

Fleur did her best to not think about her bad decision, after all, Hermione still had Ron and she had to believe that their one drunken night would not magically solve anything (by solve, she meant remove him from the equation). After a few minutes, she turned off the water and dried off, plotting her escape once again.

She got dressed and ran the towel through her hair one last time as she made her escape, tossing the wet towel on the floor of her room as she passed the doorway, failing to notice that the brunette no longer occupied her bed.

Hermione instead, stood in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee as she leaned back against the counter. She watched as Fleur walked past, eyes glued to the floor. A shy voice sounded, "Fleur," the blonde jumped at the sound, "can we talk?"

The blonde paused in her steps, slowly turning towards the brunette, dressed in a long sleeved sweater, the sleeves covering her hands, her hair now straightened, flowing loosely down her back, and a comfy pair of jeans. She couldn't help but think that her mate looked gorgeous, and she winced at the thought, despite their actions of the previous night, she was not her mate (was, but that was beside the point).

"Can we just, pretend that didn't happen? We were both drunk and I don't want that to ruin our friendship. I do value you as a friend."

"Yeah, friends." She forced a smile at that last word, holding it until Hermione returned her smile. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

Hermione nodded, turning back to her coffee, she would broach the rest of what she wanted to say later, sensing now wasn't the time.

Fleur turned back to her original plan, leaving. She'd return later, once she felt it was safe, she couldn't spend much time with Hermione, at least not yet, it wasn't safe. Fleur would be bound by any and all orders given by her mate, knowingly or unknowingly, the difference being that she wasn't bound until they had... consummated their relationship. It normally wasn't an issue as for this step to have been taken, the mate would have (hopefully) the best interest at heart, granted there were also cases where the mate had taken advantage of their Veela partner to their detriment. She couldn't believe she'd gotten herself into this mess. She didn't think Hermione would do anything to deliberately hurt her, but they weren't together and left her unsure.

Her feet led her to a local cafe down the street from their apartment, one that she frequented quite often, their pastries, while not as good as the ones from home, were at least passable in her opinion, better than the rest of the local cafes. And she did enjoy their coffee. She sat at one of the outdoor tables and the waiter only gave her a look of knowing before bringing her her usual order.

"Morning Fleur, how's life treating you?"

"Good morning John, I wish it could be better."

The waiter gave her a somber smile, his bright blue eyes filled with a soft kindness, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. "I'm here for you, love."

"Thank you, John." She placed her hand on his, enjoying his slight comfort. She had met him at work, but they had since become a strange sort of friends, recognizing him for their shared Veela blood, they had bonded over it, dancing around the topic. He hadn't met his mate yet, though he was still young, in his mid twenties and most wouldn't meet their mates til later. Fleur was considered lucky in a sense, having met hers, but unlucky that hers was engaged to another. John, however, had a loving boyfriend, one that understood their relationship would never be taken to the "next level".

Without a word, he turned and went back to work, leaving Fleur to her thoughts once again. She sipped her coffee in silence, knowing that he would listen when she was ready, a silent ally. When her cup was empty he stopped by once again.

"We slept together." That was it, that was all she said, all that could be said.

"I'm sorry, honey. She doesn't know does she?"

She could only shake her head in the negative and John took a seat across the table from her, placing his hand on hers, "You've gotta tell her, love, she needs to know. I've sat back and watched this for long enough. She wouldn't hurt you if she knew. But she's your mate and she needs to know before it's too late."

Sorry if you were hoping for some *ahem* action, im writing this at work on work equipment soooo... yeah use your imaginations as to what happened. :)