Chapter 15.


Hermione went straight to the Ministry, barging into the Auror office where she found Harry and Lupin engaged in a heated argument with some Ministry officials. Hermione stood back for a while until she realised they were arguing over the release of Pansy Parkinson.

"You can't tell me her family's money had nothing to do with this!" Harry bellowed, a vein sticking out in his throat.

"Look here, Mr Potter, while we respect your service to the wizarding world, you simply cannot go throwing around accusations like that," said a man with a carefully clipped dark moustache.

"Our hands are tied, we can't just let the auror department run rampant and target well-known families without adequate evidence," a well dressed man with dirty blonde hair added. Hermione strode over to join them.

"Adequate evidence?! They're Death Eaters. We saw the Dark Mark on them. They were tailed to a meeting house—there's notes about it!" Hermione said harshly. The neutral expressions of the Ministry officials were already beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Unfortunately," Well-Clipped Moustache said, "It appears that all the records concerning Parkinson, Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe and Zabini have been removed from all systems."

"They've clearly been tampered with," Lupin said calmly, "But you still have the testimony of almost half a dozen Aurors who were attacked by them and have heard them admit to being Death Eaters. We can see their Dark Marks."

The man with dirty blonde hair clucked his tongue, "Unfortunately, many people have joined and dropped out of the Death Eaters over the years… and that simply isn't a crime. There is no way to tell that a Dark Mark is current. As for relying on testimony… All these aurors concerned are part of a radical group formed by Dumbledore that is prejudiced towards certain families. The Ministry must remain neutral during these troubling times."

"Prejudiced?!" Hermione choked, "If it weren't for Dumbledore and the Order half the wizarding population would probably be dead by now!"

"We can't have our aurors jumping to conclusions," the man with the moustache cut in curtly, "We are already being accused of having a biased auror department."

Harry stepped forward, squaring his shoulders but Lupin pulled him back. The Ministry officials, seemingly satisfied, slid out of the department. Hermione and Harry looked to Lupin.

"This happens sometimes, the Ministry is absolutely riddled with Death Eater sympathisers and corruption. I'll talk to Shacklebolt."

Later on, Harry and Hermione were heading home with Lupin.

"I just… I feel so helpless… I feel like every time it feels like we're doing something a step forward, we end up ten steps backwards…" Harry said morosely. Lupin looked at Harry and Hermione with a sad smile.

"Wartime is like this… We'll get through it together… Right now we all just need to rally around Tonks and re-focus our efforts," Lupin said solemnly. They reached the Floo fireplaces and took turns stepping in. Arriving back at Grimmauld Place, Harry stomped upstairs.

"He gets like this sometimes," Hermione explained, "He takes everything on his own shoulders… blames himself for every loss,"

"I can't imagine how badly he took Sirius' death… Or Cedric's…" Lupin said slowly.

"There's been so much loss already… Cedric, Sirius, Andromeda, Bill…" Hermione said, thinking about all the former friends and Order members who had fallen since Voldemort had returned.

"Ah, yes, Bill… I don't think Fleur would have got through that one without Tonks… It was really what made them go from flatmates to best friends," Lupin said, setting in to make a pot of tea.

"Yeah? Was it as bad as Tonks is at the moment?" Hermione asked, sitting down at the table.

"Mn, about the same… Just in different ways," Lupin said, scratching at some stubble on his chin, "Fleur drank a lot and went through a string of one night stands… I lost count of the number of times Tonks would be late for something because she had been pulling Fleur out of a bar or diffusing a situation with another person Fleur had ended things with."

"So Fleur really has been through as many people as they say?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow. Lupin chuckled.

"Well… I do remember Tonks once saying that she had seen most of the male and female wizarding model population file out of Fleur's room during that time," Lupin chuckled. Hermione frowned.

"People deal with grief in different ways, Hermione. Fleur looked for distractions… But she's not doing that anymore," Lupin said, sipping at his tea. Hermione sipped at hers too, deep in thought. She shouldn't let Blaise prey on her insecurities… Lupin was right. It didn't matter how many people Fleur had seen before her, as long as she was with her now.

After her cup of tea, Hermione went upstairs to her room. Fleur was in there, standing in front of the mirror, freshly showered, drying her hair with her wand.

"You're back?" Hermione asked.

"Tonks is finally getting some sleep," Fleur replied, "Poor thing is so worn out,"

"I hate to admit it, but I really missed sharing a bed with you," Hermione said with a small smile. Fleur strode over to Hermione and cupped her face in her hands, kissing her.

"It was a little odd, wasn't it?" Fleur said, smiling, "To think we used to struggle spending time together,"

"Not that we don't still struggle sometimes," Hermione chuckled before getting serious, "I'm not… I'm not a distraction, am I?" she asked, uncertainty lacing her voice. Fleur smiled at her genuinely.

"You're probably the first person in years that hasn't been," Fleur replied.

Hermione moved her hands down Fleur's body slowly. Fleur's smile widened and she moved forward, pressing against Hermione's body. Hermione looked into Fleur's deep blue eyes. Always so confident, so sure. Fleur closed the gap, capturing Hermione's lips with hers. She playfully nipped at Hermione's bottom lip and Hermione grabbed her ass. Fleur moved to kiss at Hermione's neck, her breath quickening a little.

"I guess you're not the prude I thought you were," she smirked into Hermione's ear. She then pushed Hermione backwards and onto her back on the bed. Hermione moved up the bed before propping herself up on her elbows. Fleur moved fluidly on top of her, returning to kiss at her neck. Her hands began to tug at clothes and Hermione's hands responded in kind, pulling Fleur's clothes off too. The feeling of Fleur's skin against hers was almost too much, she wrapped her arms around Fleur, pulling her closer against her.

"I want you so bad," Hermione murmured, and Fleur smiled into her neck, running her hand down Hermione's body before reaching to rub at her clit. She grinded on Hermione's thigh as her fingers worked, kissing at her neck, sucking at her earlobe. Hermione's hands clung to Fleur, running up and down her amazing body, before tangling in her silky silver-blonde hair as she finished with a shudder.

Hermione caught her breath as Fleur continued to grind against her with longing. Taking charge, Hermione rolled so she was on top of Fleur. She paused, looking down at Fleur.

"You are impossibly beautiful," Hermione murmured. She kissed Fleur's lips gently before moving to kiss along her jawline and to her neck. She ran a hand up Fleur's thigh as she moved to nip at her collarbone before kissing down to her breasts, sucking at her nipples before kissing down her toned stomach. She paused at Fleur's hips, looking up at Fleur. Fleur let out a frustrated moan and bucked her hips. Hermione smirked before continuing to kiss along her hip bones and then slowly up her thighs. She took her time, teasing Fleur who continued to writhe. Finally, she took her first slow lick at Fleur's pussy. Fleur let out a moan as Hermione began to get into a rhythm. She hooked her legs over Hermione's shoulders and arched her back. Hermione's tongue and jaw were beginning to ache but every moan that Fleur let out spurred her on. Finally, she finished, shaking. Hermione looked up with a smile, moving back up Fleur's body to kiss her lips.

"That was amazing," sighed Fleur with a smile. They stared contentedly into each other's eyes for a moment before being drawn together again, passionately kissing. Hermione's hand found its way down to Fleur's pussy, rubbing before slipping inside. She began to thrust, kissing and nipping at Fleur's neck and sighing contentedly at the moans she was producing from Fleur again. Fleur scratched at Hermione's shoulder blades lightly as she reached her point of ecstasy, moaning Hermione's name.

"Okay… that was amazing," Fleur smiled, catching her breath as they both lay back on the bed.

"Nice break from figuring out how to comfort Tonks?" Hermione smiled, folding her arms behind her head.

"Its not hard to figure out how to comfort her," Fleur replied, looking at the ceiling, "Its more difficult ensuring she keeps taking care of herself… eating, sleeping, showering,"

Hermione looked over at her. "You're always so sure of yourself… I wish I could be like that. Before the war, I was always so sure of things. There was nothing I hadn't encountered in books or classes. But nowadays… I just constantly feel conflicted and uncertain."

"How so?" Fleur asked, turning on her side to look at her. She ran a hand up Hermione's side comfortingly.

"I mean… When I was frozen with inaction at the Department of Magical Creatures… When I thought you were bad and Blaise was good… I just feel so unsure all the time now," Hermione said, looking down.

"Hermione, everyone is uncertain sometimes," Fleur comforted, "I'm often unsure about things. You just have to try and find a way through it."

Hermione wanted to bring up her insecurities about her new relationship with Fleur but couldn't quite find the words. A loud sob pierced the wall and Fleur sat up quickly.

"Sorry, it sounds like Tonks is awake again," Fleur said apologetically, quickly pulling on a tee and looking around for her underwear. Hermione tried to ignore the pang of jealousy as Fleur finished dressing and kissed her quickly before leaving to see Tonks.


The next day, Hermione again awoke to an empty bed. Repeating to herself that Fleur was being a good friend and that Tonks was in a hard place, Hermione got ready and headed to work.

Sitting down at her desk, she pulled out her map of Death Eater connections. Now that Blaise was conveniently avoiding work, she could freely work on her project, channelling her anger at him into research.

"Any progress?" Harry asked, drawing up a seat beside her.

"Actually, yeah," Hermione replied, looking up, "Now I'm filling in the Zabini connections, its revealing a lot more."

"Still mad at him?" Harry asked with a knowing look. Hermione ran a hand through her hair.

"I just feel like he's got into my head!" she said with exasperation. It felt good to vent to Harry about it.

"Speaking as someone who has had their enemies literally enter their mind," Harry said with a smirk, "You've just gotta focus on those close to you and what is real. Don't let him distort your views,"

Hermione nodded, opening another thick old book of wizarding family trees. She dropped her quill.

"What is it, 'Mione?" Harry asked.

"Blaise's cousin… How have we never known this before?" Hermione asked, staring at the page with wide eyes.

"Who's cousins with Blaise?" Harry asked.

"Luna Lovegood… why would she hide that from us?" Hermione said, looking at Harry with shock.

Luna had been involved in the Order on and off for years. She was one of the less reliable members, always going off the grid. But the others just put that down to her dreamy nature. She was present at most meetings though, always scribbling notes with an intense precision.

"If she was in with the Death Eaters surely they would have known the location of Grimmauld Place by now," Harry pointed out.

"No, not necessarily, its subject to the Fidelius charm, remember?" Hermione answered, "But… she was one of the secret keepers for our individual safehouses… Maybe it wasn't Mundungus that revealed those locations?"

"I don't know… this is a huge call… Luna has fought with us at the Battle of Hogwarts as well as helped us numerous times… How can we be sure she didn't tell us about Blaise being her cousin because she's just… y'know… a bit spacey at the best of times?"

"Harry… we have to look into this," Hermione pressed, "Friend or no friend… if she's another double agent or letting Blaise in on Order information then we're all in danger."

She snapped the book shut, nodding at Harry. Grabbing their cloaks, the two headed off.