"Hermione?"

Hermione's eyes began to sleepily open as she heard her name called and the room slowly came into focus. There was an impatient knocking at the door.

The light was streaming in through the curtains. She must have slept in.

Hermione slowly became aware of the platinum locks by her face and warmth she was engulfed in. Fleur's head was resting on her chest, and the blonde wrapped in her arms. Hermione suddenly remembered the terrifying wake-up call of Fleur stumbling in to their room injured the previous night.

The door flung open and Ginny strode in.

"Merlin, 'Mione, you can't sleep the day away just because you don't have a job…" Ginny started, before halting and staring at the two witches entangled in bed.

Fleur awoke, looking a little surprised to see Ginny in their room. Hermione blushed, aware that the position might look a little friendly to the anti-Fleur Ginny.

"Gin… what are you doing in here?" Hermione asked, sitting up in bed and beginning to disentangle herself from Fleur.

"Its half-eleven, 'Mione," Gin said, looking incredibly uncomfortable, "I thought I should come and wake you up… I didn't know you'd be… canoodling with her."

"I'm not canoodling!" Hermione exclaimed, blushing. Fleur smirked.

"If anything, she's too prudish to canoodle," Fleur chuckled.

"Shut up, Fleur!" Hermione snapped, exasperated.

"I don't blame you for it, Hermione," Fleur said airily, "It seems to be a common trait of the British."

"Oh, here we go again about England, Fleur!" Hermione countered, "If its that bad, just go back to France!"

The two continued to bicker and Ginny looked somewhat appeased, turning and leaving them to it.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione had finally had enough of arguing in circles with Fleur and climbed out of bed to head downstairs. Secretly, she was a little relieved they had ended up bickering… She wasn't ready to talk to Fleur about their kiss yet.

Hermione went down to the kitchen table and started preparing a late breakfast while Ginny read the Prophet and pushed a stack of letters towards her. Hermione picked up the first one. A formal letter from the Ministry informing her that her job was being disestablished as the department is reformed. Hermione shrugged. She had expected that. She picked up the next letter.

The next letter was from Kingsley Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt was acknowledging in subtle terms that he thought he knew who was behind the leak. It also acknowledged, in no less subtle terms, that Hermione would be welcome at any department of her choosing within the Ministry. Hermione smiled.

"Au revoir!" Fleur called, and there was the sound of the door closing. Ginny immediately set down her newspaper.

"Okay so what's your next move going to be? Please tell me you're going to join the aurors," Ginny asked impatiently, as if the question had been bubbling inside her all morning.

"I'm considering it," Hermione smirked. It was true, she had seriously been considering it as her next move. The war was still raging and she was just as eager as Harry to become useful to the cause. Fleur challenging her that she wouldn't be instinctive enough was just an added bonus.


Thanks to Shacklebolt's sway, it didn't take long for Hermione to sign up for the auror programme. She was in lessons by that very afternoon, with the understanding she could do enough background reading and work to catch up with the rest of the new recruits in no time.

Ginny and Hermione strolled into the room and sat beside a pleasantly surprised Harry and Lupin.

"Yes! Hermione! You definitely made the right choice," Harry enthused, slapping her with a high five.

The training was fascinating, a thrilling mix of complex offensive and defensive spells in a good balance of theory and practical work. By the time the afternoon lessons finished, Hermione was buzzing about it as much as Ginny and Harry.

"And they say that very soon we'll be able to go on low level tasks!" Harry was chattering excitedly, as he fished out some notes to lend Hermione. They were walking out of the training room and into the main common area for the auror department.

Harry beamed as he saw familiar faces in the common area.

"Wotcher," Tonks grinned as the aurors-in-training walked in. She was sitting with Fleur signing off some paperwork.

"Check out the latest member of the auror department!" Harry exclaimed. Tonks looked surprised. Fleur smiled.

"Well, I suppose if you're ballsy enough to take down Umbridge, you'll be promising in the field!" Tonks grinned.

"She may just surprise us yet," Fleur smirked, earning a glare from Hermione.

"Want a coffee with me and some of the others from class?" Harry asked, gesturing to a couple of people behind him. Hermione recognised one as Blaise Zabini, a handsome Slytherin from Hogwarts who had probably been the most tolerable Slytherin.

"Sure," Hermione shrugged, ignoring Fleur's eyes on her as they left Tonks and Fleur in the auror's department. She followed Harry and the two other aurors-in-training. Lupin and Ginny trailed behind them.

"So you guys know Tonks and Fleur?" Blaise asked as they sought out a table in the Ministry cafeteria.

"Yeah," Harry grinned, "Tonks and Fleur were in the Order with us and are assigned to Ron and Hermione in the evenings. They're pretty great."

"Well, Tonks is great," Ginny chipped in.

"What about Fleur?" Blaise asked, a gleam in his eye.

"She's really nice, and quite fun to chat to—not to mention very intelligent" Lupin contributed, and Harry agreed.

"Do you… Do you think she'd be into a guy slightly younger than her?" Blaise asked, looking a little awkward.

"She is not interested Blaise!" Hermione abruptly snapped, and the table all turned to look at her, surprised.

"Jeez, Hermione, what's it to you?" Blaise mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Erm, sorry," Hermione apologised, before Harry intervened and changed the subject. Hermione rubbed the back of her neck and gazed down at her coffee, zoning out from the rest of the conversation. What was it to her if Blaise was to ask out Fleur? What was Fleur to her anyway? Her stomach flipped as she recalled their kisses. They weren't… more than friends. They weren't even really friends at all.

She snapped back to attention as she realised Blaise and the other person from training were getting up to leave and saying their goodbyes. Harry turned to Hermione.

"Hey, 'Mione, want to head home and practice some of the tactics we learnt today? I can even help you go through the notes from the previous lessons," Harry said with a grin.

"Who are you and what have you done with Harry?" Hermione asked, and Lupin and Ginny let out a burst of laughter. Harry joined in the laughter as they got to their feet and started heading towards the Floo exits.

"Are you all right, 'Mione?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow, "You kind of bit off Blaise's head back there."

"Yeah-"

"GRANGER!" a voice called out from across the Ministry atrium. Hermione whipped around just in time to see a dagger flying across the atrium right at her head.

In a second, there was a blur of platinum blonde and Hermione gasped as Fleur appeared in front of her, grasping the dagger in her hand. The tip of the dagger was about an inch from Hermione's face. It appeared Fleur had caught it just in the nick of time.

"Merde," Fleur said through gritted teeth, and Hermione noticed that she had grasped her hand around the blade of the dagger, drawing blood that was dripping out of her clenched hand.

"Fucking hell," Ginny gasped, open mouthed.

"So much for your Quidditch reflexes!" Fleur hissed, turning on Ginny, incensed.

"Who expects a flying dagger in the middle of the Ministry?" Ginny countered, grabbing Fleur roughly by the arm.

"Guys, calm down," Lupin said, pulling the two apart.

They were interrupted by flashes of light, turning open mouthed to see Hermione duelling with the mysterious cloaked attacker. Ministry workers on their way to their evening commute had frozen and crowded around the edges of the atrium.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted, and the hooded figure's wand arced into the air. The figure barely had a second to comprehend what had happened when with a heavy thump Harry had tackled them to the ground.

"Woah, good work you two!" Lupin exclaimed, releasing Fleur and Ginny and hurrying over to Harry and the crumpled figure.

Harry was pulling the figure roughly to their feet, panting. Hermione, Fleur and Ginny caught up with Lupin to stand with Harry as he pulled the heavy cloak hood off the attacker.

"H-Hammond?" Hermione stuttered, paling. Her former supervisor's face was contorted into pure hatred.

"I put my neck on the line for you, Granger," Hammond spat, "And you threw it all away for the sake of filthy half-breeds! You cost me my job!"

Lupin stepped in and pulled Hammond's hands behind his back while Fleur conjured some magical cords to bind them there. The crowd in the atrium was now at near fever pitch as they gossiped and pointed.

"Get your hands off me! I know what you are, wolf," Hammond yelled, wrenching wildly. Harry and Fleur put a hand on each of Hammond's shoulders to steady him.

"You must be loving this you half-breed Veela!" Hammond spat at Fleur. Fleur gave a long sigh.

"I can take it from here, Remus, you and Ginny escort Harry and Hermione home," she turned to glare at Ginny, "That is if Ginny can manage to protect Hermione for all ten steps to the Floo fireplaces."

Ginny shot Fleur a deathly glare as the blonde yanked Hammond off into the depths of the Ministry, wand held at his neck. The throngs of spectators parted for them before crowding around the others again.

"Lets get home," Harry muttered, "I hate it when they put us in the spotlight like this."

Lupin nodded and led the way, Harry at his side. Ginny put an arm around Hermione's shoulder, pulling her away as the bushy haired girl craned her head for one last glimpse of Fleur through the crowd.

"I can't believe Fleur caught that dagger," Hermione murmured, "I didn't even see her in the room."

"I wouldn't've let it hurt you, you know," Ginny bristled, "I probably would've caught it too if she hadn't got in the way like that."

"She caught the blade in her hand, Gin," Hermione continued, "Did you see the blood?"

"Doesn't mean she had to be a bitch about it," Ginny said irritably, "And anyway, I thought you thought she was insufferable?"

"I do," Hermione said, reddening, "It was… a good catch, that's all."

Ginny frowned and rubbed her temples as they arrived at the Floo fireplaces and lined up. Within minutes, they were all back at Grimmauld Place.

"Cup of tea?" Ron asked obliviously as they walked into the kitchen, still stunned by what had happened.

"Mate, we're gonna need something stronger after what just happened," Harry started, before launching into the story. Ron settled round the table with them, his jaw dropping as he listened.

"Bloody hell, and here I was thinking I would have the story of the day with the new seats we're gonna use for the Quidditch World Cup," Ron exclaimed. Harry and Lupin laughed. Ginny was still looking a little put out, staring fiercely into her cup of tea. There was a bang of someone clumsy knocking over a coat stand and Tonks walked into the kitchen.

"Heard about the kerfuffle at the Ministry," she remarked, taking a seat, "Everyone's talking about the two junior aurors who managed to take down an attacker in the middle of rush hour!"

Harry and Hermione beamed.

"The way Fleur described your quick spellwork, 'Mione, I didn't know you were that gifted at duelling!" Tonks added.

"I didn't know Harry was that good at tackling," Lupin laughed, "You're wasted on the sport of Quidditch, you know."

"Where is Fleur?" Hermione asked Tonks, earning a barely hidden smirk from the metamorphmagus.

"She'll be tied up with a fair bit of paperwork after that one," Tonks laughed, "And right after we had finally caught up on the paperwork today."

"Maybe she wouldn't have that problem if she'd stayed to her own hours," Ginny frowned, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

Hermione excused herself to go up to her room and read up on the auror notes she had to catch up on. Truth be told, as she climbed the dark stairway, she was seeking solitude in which to untangle her complicated thoughts about Fleur. For once she hadn't been the wimpy bookworm protected by Fleur. She had fought back. And Fleur had been impressed by her duelling. A small smile formed on her lips as she walked into her room.

"You know, I really could have caught it if I had wanted to."

Hermione turned around to see Ginny standing in her doorway. She sighed.

"I know, Gin. I told you I was coming up here to read."

Ginny, seemingly ignoring her, came and sat herself on the edge of Hermione's bed.

"We used to be so close, 'Mione," Ginny said in a quiet voice. She ran a hand through her fire red hair. Hermione was caught off-guard by the comment, and a little hurt.

"We still are," Hermione replied, coming to sit beside Ginny on the bed. Ginny opened her mouth to say something, closed it again and then sighed. There was a moment before Ginny finally spoke.

"I saw you and Fleur, 'Mione," Ginny said slowly. Hermione felt a sudden uncomfortable jerk of her stomach.

"This morning? I already talked to you about that," Hermione said quickly.

"No… the other night. When you asked if I had seen anything and I said no," Ginny explained, "I saw you two kissing. What's going on Hermione?"

"Oh… erm, that," Hermione said awkwardly. She had no idea how to explain to any of her friends her attraction to girls, let alone explain to Ginny her strange attraction to a girl they both disliked.

"Yeah?" Ginny asked, beginning to tap her foot on the ground restlessly.

"That was just a weird drunk thing," Hermione lied "Completely forgot about it until now. You know Fleur drives me up the wall." She comforted herself that it was at least partially true, they had been drinking wine earlier that night and Fleur did irritate her. And at least this would buy her more time to work out exactly how she felt herself.

Ginny immediately relaxed and a huge smile broke out over her face.

"Oh thank Merlin!" she exclaimed, "What a relief! I was really worried there."

Hermione felt a little uncomfortable.

"Was it really that bad?" she asked nervously.

"Bad?!" Ginny laughed, "I was horrified! Thank gods it was nothing after all." She leapt up from the bed and skipped across the room.

"Yeah…" Hermione said weakly, feeling increasingly bad about Ginny's reaction. Ginny was rummaging in Hermione's trunk and emerged with a small bottle. She threw it at Hermione. Hermione held it up and saw it was a bottle of mouthwash.

"You'll be needing plenty more of that to disinfect your mouth after Phlegm!" Ginny laughed. Hermione laughed weakly but put the mouthwash to one side.

"Erm, Gin, I was serious about wanting to get some reading done… so if you don't mind…" Hermione said awkwardly. Ginny nodded, understanding the needs of her bookworm friend, and reluctantly headed to the door.

"Dya want to hang out later?" Ginny asked, leaning in the doorway.

"Um, I'm actually pretty tired, so will probably just skip dinner and go straight to bed after reading," Hermione said, ignoring the hurt look of her friend.

"Oh, well okay then…" Ginny said, sounding a little crestfallen, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hermione nodded and shut the door as Ginny left, leaning her back against it immediately and exhaling heavily.

"Fuck," she muttered. Her head was now even more of a mess. She decided to turn to her source of solitude and relaxation: learning.

Settling herself down into the armchair in the bed, she started scanning through the auror training notes, enjoying the distraction and allowing time to melt away.

Hermione was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and shutting and set down her notes, exasperated.

"Ginny, I told you, I really am reading—" she began as she stood and whirled around.

Her train of thought was cut off as she was met with a fierce kiss and arms wrapped around her.

"Fl-Fleur?" Hermione stammered as she pulled away for air. Deep sapphire eyes stared back into hers, positively sparking with intensity.

"You were… magnifique out there," Fleur said in a low voice barely above a whisper. Hermione stared at her for a moment, stunned, before she pulled Fleur in to kiss her again. This kiss was even more passionate than the last, Fleur slipping her tongue into her mouth and tightening her grip around her. One of Hermione's hands found its way to tangle into the silky silver-blonde hair of the Veela, while the other one went on a wild exploration of Fleur's body.

There was a sharp knock at the door. The two leapt apart as if burnt, guiltily smoothing hair and clothes before the door flew open.

"Dinner, guys!" Harry chirped, "You coming?"

Harry waved a hand impatiently and headed back off downstairs. Fleur turned and quickly exited the room without a second glance at Hermione, hurriedly rushing down the stairs.

Hermione just stared, slack-jawed, at the empty doorway.