A/N Here it is, like promised, chapter ten. I'm incredibly glad I was indeed able to upload tonight, and as usual you have to thank Peeves' Best Friend, Beta extraordinaire!
Other thanks go out to xtonguetied, Phoebex13 and Hulksmashed, whose continued interest in my story is a huge help. I'd recommend you check out Hulksmashed's Fleurmione story, if you are interested, it's incredibly good.
And last, but not least, thanks go out to you! For continuing to read Fleur De La Mer, without you, I don't think I would keep on writing!
FLEUR DE LA MER
CHAPTER TEN: The Yule Ball, Part I
HERMIONE (Study Hall, December 23rd. 10.02 a.m.)
"Who are you going with?" Ron whispered bluntly to Hermione who was ferociously writing her essay on Charms - Explain the difference in spellwork between the Summoning Charm and the Banishing Charm. In the last half hour alone, this was the third time he hadasked.
"None of your business, Ronald." Hermione answered curtly and continued to pen down words. Her entire right hand was - as usual - covered in ink stains.
"Why won't you tell us? Are you embarrassed about him?" Ron pushed a little further, refusing to let the matter go.
"As I have told you at least seven times before; I'm not embarrassed about whom I'm taking." Hermione said disinterestedly "Now will you let me concentrate? This essay is not about to write itself." Her eyes narrowed as she spotted a mistake. Hermione dipped her quill in ink and scratched out the word. Great, she hated scratched out words. Now she could copy it all over again when she finished.
Sighing in annoyance, Hermione purposely ignored the redhead boy who was still staring at her. After ten minutes of intense staring on his side, and increasing restlessness on Hermione's part, she dropped the quill on the table and turned to face her friend.
"What?" She hissed and Ron blinked in surprise at her aggressive reaction.
"Who are you going with?" He insisted on asking again.
"Ronald.." Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Just let it go. I'm not telling you."
"You will eventually!" He exclaimed loudly. That exclamation earned him a slap on the head by Professor Snape, who had snuck up on them once he had realized that Ron was not exactly studying.
"Mister Weasley." Professor Snape said in a low voice. "Could you remind what the purpose is of Study Hall? I seem to have forgotten it."
"Uhm. Studying?" Ron said.
"So," Snape said, seemingly bored "Not gossiping?"
"I guess not."
"You guessed correctly, Weasley. Leave Granger alone and get back to work or you can join me in detention later." Snape smirked coldly. "Five points from Gryffindor for talking in Study Hall."
"Bloody snake, he is." Ron grumbled when Snape walked away.
"Detention, Weasley." Snape called without turning around. "8 o'clock, my office. You can join your brothers."
Hermione sniggered and focused once more on her essay. When they walked out an hour later, Ron threw up his hands in exasperation and Harry slapped him sympathetically on the back.
"I wonder what Fred and George got detention for." Harry pondered out loud while the trio was walking towards lunch.
"They got caught running a gambling operation." Hermione said. "Well, the gambling operation, to be fair. I heard the prefects talking about it this morning."
"You mean to tell me I lost fifteen sickles to my own brothers?" Ron muttered. "Just when you think that you can avoid them.."
"When did you lose fifteen sickles?" Harry asked in confusion.
"The first task." Ron sighed. "Some Hufflepuff was promising 10 to 1 odds to Krum killing his dragon. I should have known it was too good to be true."
"No, Ronald." Hermione grinned "You should have known that your brothers were somehow involved anyway. Even if you go out-house to bet on something - which I disapprove of by the way; the betting, not the fact that you went out house - Fred and George are always involved."
"Yeah. Since when have Hufflepuffs been smart enough to run an illegal operation?" Harry said mockingly.
"Harry." Hermione sighed deeply "Not all Hufflepuffs are idiots. Diggory is a Hufflepuff. He got picked as a champion, that means he has to be smart."
"I got picked as a champion." Harry remarked. "Does that mean I'm smart?"
"No mate." Ron laughed. "That just means they're trying to kill you again."
Laughing loudly - with some frowning on Hermione's part - the trio made their way through the crowd. As usual, the hallways were overflowing with hungry people, all trying - at the same time - to enter the Great Hall. Obviously, it wasn't working. More importantly, it seemed incredibly uncomfortable. Hermione grabbed Ron by the collar and stopped him when she noticed him going for the entrance.
"Let's just wait a second." Hermione said when he looked around in surprise. "I don't want to get squashed again."
Grumbling, Ron agreed and stepped back, letting the stream of hungry students by. Leaning against the wall, the trio observed the enormous mass of people all bumping into each other, until one unfortunate first year slipped, tripped over his own feet and triggered a domino effect. Before Hermione could react, the entire Hufflepuff first year section was a groaning pile of limbs on the ground.
It took two entire seconds for Ron and Harry to start laughing at the scene unfolding in front of their eyes - no surprise there - and Hermione sighed in reaction. Hitting them both with the Charms book that she was holding, she scolded her friends for mocking the poor Hufflepuffs. The disapproving look on her face only made her close friends laugh louder. Shaking her head she opened her mouth to say something, but then a loud, almost musical laugh stopped her in her tracks.
The doors of the entrance hall had opened, and a contingent of Beauxbatons students had decided to arrive for lunch. At the front stood Fleur, who was almost shaking in hilarity when she saw how two boys tried standing up, only to slip down again mere seconds later.
"Zis school." Fleur mocked loud and clear for the entire entrance hall to hear "It is a joke. Zis entire school is just one big joke. You'd 'zink 'zey would teach zeir students 'ow to walk, wouldn't you Inès?"
The girl beside her - Fleur's friend that Hermione had seen a million times before - grinningly agreed.
"And zat," Fleur continued in a voice dripping in disapproval and pointed towards the ceiling "Would never be allowed to even enter Beauxbatons."
Hermione frowned at Fleur's tone of voice and like the rest of the students in the hall, she looked up to the ceiling. Triumphantly floating around, was Peeves. The Poltergeist took a deep bow, and then, before anyone could reacted drifted away to some other yet to be created mayhem.
Suddenly, Hermione realized that the floor was indeed far more slippery than usual. Deeply frowning - why didn't she realize this before? - she reached for her wand. Too late, Fleur had had the same idea and with one simple and bored flick of her wand, the French witch had cleared up the thin layer of wax Peeves had spread out on the floor.
The poor first years were finally able to stand up again, only to almost be pushed back to the ground when the Beauxbatons students made their way towards the entrance of the Great Hall. As she had done so many times before this week, Hermione tried to catch Fleur's eye when the beautiful quarter-Veela walked past her with her head held high. And just like all those other times during the week, Fleur ignored her like she was a pile of dust in a remote corner somewhere in the castle.
"Fleur Delacour does not seem happy." Harry said once the Beauxbatons pupils had entered the Great Hall. "Every time I see her these days, she is looking more menacing than before. Just when I thought she was warming up to the idea of Hogwarts."
Instead of listening to Ron's muffled response - he'd probably mutter something about how out-of-reach Fleur was for him; and he was right about that - she didn't let her shoulders slump and instead decided to make her way towards lunch. Most people had entered by now anyway, there was no more reason to stay and wait.
Ever since their last fight, Fleur had ignored her. No matter how hard she tried to contact her, no matter how many times she walked over to that spot at the side of the lake, no matter how many times she sat alone in the library - waiting for Fleur to show up - Fleur didn't give her one ounce of attention. At dinner, she would ignore Hermione, except for those few moments where Fleur would glance back to her. But her normally warm eyes, always seemed cold and distant.
Hermione knew better though. Those sapphire blue eyes were not cold, they were sad.
But really, it was as if Fleur was challenging her, testing her, pushing her to snap. Whenever she was around Fleur, whether it was in a hallway or in the Great Hall, Fleur acted like the stereotypical French person who hated everything vaguely English. In the last couple of days, the girl had insulted everything. From the food to the statues to the actual students. Nothing escaped the scrutinizing eye of Fleur Delacour. Nothing. She was acting like the arrogant Veela everyone thought she had been only a few weeks ago.
Her eyes glanced to Fleur, who was sitting only a table further. Hermione always made sure they were sitting more or less parallel from each other. Fleur was once again staring at the food in front of her.
"Ugh. It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food." Hermione heard Fleur say grumpily. "If I keep eating zis, I will not fit into my dress robes!"
Hermione snapped on purpose, realizing that Harry was looking at her weirdly
"Ooh there's a tragedy." She mocked "She really does think a lot of herself, doesn't she?"
"I guess so." Harry said slowly, "So why are you staring at her?"
"She's annoying the hell out of me." Hermione scowled loudly.
"Weren't the two of you friends?" Ron muttered with a mouth full of food.
If looks could kill, Ron Weasley would be dead on the floor by now, and the food he was eating would fall out of his lifeless mouth. Yet, up until this day, Hermione Granger was not able to kill people simply by glaring. Instead, she stood up and even though lunch was not even half way done yet, she decided to leave.
"Wait up there, Granger." She heard Ginny call after her. The redhead girl ran up to Hermione, linked arms and as inconspicuously as Ginny could - which wasn't really that inconspicuous - she dragged Hermione out of the Great Hall. A pair of deep blue eyes followed them all the way to the doors.
"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed once they were outside "What are you doing?"
"Dragging you out of lunch, isn't it obvious?" Ginny grinned.
"I was leaving on my own already." Hermione frowned.
"Yeah, I noticed. So, what's up with you and Veela girl? Trouble in paradise?" Ginny asked while pushing Hermione in the direction of the Great Staircase. "Also, can we drop by the Common Room? I seem to have forgotten all of my books today and McGonagall was not happy about me showing up empty handed in her class." Ginny continued as she jumped over a trick step. "I'm not risking detention with all three of my school going brothers by doing the same thing in Snape's class."
"How do you keep managing to forget your books?" Hermione's eyes narrowed in confusion. In all her time at Hogwarts, she had never - not once - forgotten her books.
"I overslept." Ginny shrugged. "So, you and Fleur. Talk."
"There's nothing to say, Ginny." Hermione said.
"Right." Ginny smirked "So that's why Fleur's been running through the castle insulting the entire world one tiny detail at the time, and you keep walking out on lunch as if someone killed your cat."
"We just had a fight." Hermione said, and once she gave the password to the Fat Lady, the portrait swung open and they entered the Common Room.
"I know, but that was like a week ago. Shouldn't you have made up by now?" Ginny remarked as they climbed the stairs to the girls dormitories.
"Yeah, well, apparently not." Hermione scowled and dropped on Ginny's bed. "She's not too happy about me going with Krum, and - ugh - she's just ignoring me."
"You did bring the whole Krum-situation on yourself, sweetie." Ginny's head popped out of her trunk. "Merlin, I can't seem to find my potions book.. Anyways.. just.. talk to her. That'll end your misery."
"Don't you think I tried that?" Hermione sighed in exasperation. "I've been trying to talk to her all week! Whenever I think: Now's the moment! She runs off again."
"So." Ginny closed the trunk, giving up on the potions book search. She sat down next to Hermione on the bed and frowned. "Are you two still together?"
"I don't know. We never officially put an end to things" Hermione said softly. "So I don't even know."
"Well that sucks." Ginny sighed and patted her friend on the back. "That sucks big time."
FLEUR (Black Lake, December 23rd)
Elegantly, Fleur dived off the cliff straight into the clear water of the lake. Cutting through the water like a hot knife through butter, she easily reached a depth of 15 feet, where she hovered for a moment, taking in her surroundings. Although the water was freezing, Fleur was comfortably warm. She was not about to make the same mistake twice, and end up with hypothermia again. Once was more than enough. Unfortunately, Fleur knew that the charm she cast on herself to stay warm, was going to take a lot of energy, so while she regulated her body temperature, she did so with as little magic as possible. The deeper she went, the colder the water got, and from experience, she knew that it was not going to be pleasant if the charm failed.
For the past week, she had been exploring the lake to prepare herself for the second task. It had taken her less than a day to master the Bubble-Head charm that allowed her to spend time underwater. The charm had been Inès' idea, who had laughed when Fleur had been looking at partial human Transfiguration. Mocking her friend - "Why do you always have to go for the difficult solution?" - Inès had grinned and had pulled out her charms book. From that moment on, Fleur had almost been living in the lake, trying to get an understanding of its lay-out and dangers, and with every swim, the Bubble-Head charm lasted longer, once more confirming Fleur's conviction that practice was what made or broke a wizard.
While her friends all thought Fleur was spending so much time underwater for the sake of the Tournament, the truth was only partially that. Frankly, after that last disastrous fight with Hermione, she had been avoiding the grounds as much as possible. Except for Krum - who she had seen diving off his ship into the lake several times - it was highly unlikely that she was going to run into someone else swimming in the lake. Lucky for her - and for Krum - the lake was gigantic enough for the two of them and she had only seen him once while exploring, and even then from afar. Of course, it was easy to blame Krum for the fight she and Hermione had had, but if Fleur was honest, the Quidditch player and her fellow champion had done nothing wrong. In fact, him asking Hermione to the Ball proved that he had excellent taste. Nevertheless, it had only led to more bitterness on Fleur's side. And even though Hermione had tried on multiple occasions, they hadn't spoken since then.
The cold sunlight didn't reach far in the - remarkably clear - water and at a depth of 50 feet, Fleur felt like she was in a world of shadows. Using her wand to cast light in the rapidly increasing darkness, she reached the gigantic boulder that had quickly become one of her more important landmarks while travelling the lake. Staring for a moment at the massive stone, she turned east, away from the Merpeople's village that she had only come across yesterday. The underwater world of the Great Lake was vastly different from the one above water, it housed an enormous amount of fauna and flora. After all, not only Merpeople lived in the lake, schools of silvery fish swam faster than Fleur ever could, hiding whenever she came across them into the gigantic fields of weeds, that covered parts of the bottom of the lake. While beautiful from a distance - the weeds gave the impression of long grass waving idyllically in a soft breeze - Fleur hated the plants up close. Slimy, strong and far too often impossible to be dodged, Fleur detested it when she had to swim through them.
Only once had she come across the Giant Squid, and ever since then she had understood that that name did no justice to the creature. The squid was not just gigantic, it was simply enormous. While she had carefully kept her distance - after all, you never know with magical beasts - the Squid had gazed disinterestedly at her, and then slowly but surely made its way to the deeper and even darker parts of the lake, the parts that Fleur still avoided.
Swimming towards what looked like another forest of weeds, Fleur smirked when she remembered the look on Hermione's face earlier that day. Maybe she was being petty, acting this obnoxious and arrogant all the time, but the truth was that she was having fun. Acting out wasn't really Fleur's style, but Hermione's reactions every time were definitely worth it. If she had to face the girl, then she would do it on her terms. Hermione could go with Krum for all she cared, but since Fleur knew how much Hermione hated what she called that "stereotypically French behaviour", she was not about to disappear into the shadows without so much as a whiff of drama. After all, she was Fleur Delacour, and if there was one thing Fleur Delacour was good at, it was attracting attention.
Suddenly she felt something touching her ankle, something slimy, something strong. Turning her head, she saw the long, green fingers of a Grindylow grasping her ankle and before she could react, the creature yanked her down into the black depths of the lake. While the sound was lost underwater, Fleur cursed loudly and sent a Revulsion Jinx at the beast. A stream of boiling water forced the Grindylow to let go of her ankle, but while that one sank back into the depths of the lake to lick his wounds, two more took his place. Horrified, Fleur suddenly realized she was surrounded by dozens of them. They all looked at her with these sickly yellow beady eyes, and for a second, time seemed to stand still.
Then, they attacked.
Grasping, scratching, reaching whatever part of Fleur they could, they were with too many to hold them off. Sending jinxes all over the place, she could barely keep up. Desperately shaking her legs to get the creatures off, she remembered that while Grindylows were fragile, they had these long, brittle and strong fingers that once they got a hold on something, they almost never let go. In textbooks it always seemed so easy with their suggested defence, but in reality it was near impossible to break the Grindylows' hold on her.
Relashio. Relashio. Relashio.
Fleur kept sending Revulsion jinxes at the ones that grasped her legs, ankles, arms and even her stomach, but for every creature that was forced to let go, there was a new one taking its place.
Their long, strong fingers were bruising her skin, their filthy nails were scratching her open. They forced her deeper and deeper in the lake, closer and closer to the weeds on the bottom that threatened to entangle her forever.
Don't panic.
She couldn't panic, she wasn't allowed to be afraid, fear was the mind killer. Aiming her wand, she sent a ball of fire at the creatures holding her legs. Almost instantly disappearing in the water, the spell had little effect. She could almost hit herself for being so stupid - fire in water, Fleur? Really? - she opened her mouth and no longer bothering with non-verbal spells, she instead sent a strong Expulso towards the Grindylows. The pressure forced the lot of them to let go, and not hesitating for one moment, she sent another Relashio at the one on her stomach. This one too let go, and only one more was holding her, but new ones were seconds away from getting a hold on her. Not giving them another chance, she propelled herself upwards and while shooting towards the surface, she sent one last Relashio at the Grindylow still holding her upper left arm. Grimacing in pain when the Revulsion jinx did not just hit the last nasty creature but also her arm, she realized in pain that that was not her only injury.
Breaking through the surface, Fleur released the Bubble-Head charm. Breathing heavily, she looked around, she was somewhere in the middle of the lake. Not willing to spend one more second in the lake than what was necessary, she used her wand to propel her through the water and quickly made her way towards the shore. Exhausted, she swam the last couple of feet and dragged herself onto the muddy ground. Just pretend this is a mud bath in a spa, she thought, as she rested her painful body on the filthy ground. The idea of a hot and relaxing shower was almost intoxicating. That and some sleep.
Bruised and bleeding from several nasty scratches the long and strong Grindylow fingers had left her - not to mention the mark her own Revulsion jinx had left on her arm - Fleur wearily summoned the towel and clothes she had left near the shoreline before she had jumped in the lake. Staring at the calm surface of the water, she could not believe the attack she had barely escaped. Attacked by creatures you learned about in third year no less.
"Plus jamais." Fleur vowed ferociously and shook her head in disgust. "Never again." Next time those creatures tried to get a hold on her, it wouldn't be their best day.
Then she turned around and dragged her painful body back to the carriage.
Hours later, after Inès and Isabella had helped her more or less patch herself up again, Fleur found herself staring at her plate of food at dinner. She had entered the hall fashionably late, forcing all eyes on her as she had slowly and elegantly - ignoring the desire to limp in pain - made her way towards the Ravenclaw table. Her face was distorted in disgust, as she used her fork to pick through the potatoes and veal. She pricked her fork into a sad piece of broccoli, and held it in front of her face. Glancing at the Gryffindor table to see if Hermione was watching - which she was - she deliberately placed her fork back on her plate and pushed everything away from her body.
"What is 'zis?" She sneered loudly "In France we would not even give 'zis to 'ze chickens."
Next to her, Inès almost choked on her food as she heard Fleur's comment.
"I zought 'zat after being 'ere for almost two months, I would get used to ze 'orrible food. Apparently not." Fleur sighed deeply. "Monsieur Roger, is 'zere a reason for you English to 'ate food?"
Roger Davies, the boy who had tried to get into her good graces for a good part of the time she had spent at Hogwarts, looked up in surprise as Fleur finally gave him her full attention.
"Uhm." He stuttered, clearly shocked by the fact that the stunningly beautiful Fleur Delacour was acknowledging his existence - something she had not done since Halloween. "I don't know."
"I suppose it is not your fault. After all, you can't 'elp it 'zat your house elves can't cook." Fleur smiled at the boy sitting two seats further. "Or decorate, for 'zat matter. If I would start to sum up all the 'orrors in decoration in 'zis room alone, I would not be done by tomorrow evening!"
For the rest of dinner Fleur would - to the amusement of her classmates - sneeringly comment in French on pretty much everything remotely English. Occasionally she would translate, bringing Davies into the conversation and while she made sure he perceived her smile as only for him, her eyes never really left Hermione, who was growing sulkier by the second. Sitting only a table further, Fleur knew the bushy-haired girl could hear everything and while she might not understand the French, the connotations where loud and clear. Fleur smirked, knowing she was getting the effect she wanted. When the final scraps of food had disappeared off the table, she turned her attention back to the Ravenclaw boy.
"Monsieur Davies." She smiled charmingly and stood up from her seat "Would you walk me back to 'ze carriage?"
Without waiting for the dark-haired seventeen-year-old, she started walking towards the exit, still ignoring her painful body. Roger Davies hurried to his feet, completely enthralled by the beauty that was Fleur and almost ran after her. Inès shook her head as she watched her friend go. Sharing a meaningful glance with Isabella, they both silently agreed that it was time to have a chat with Fleur.
Outside the Great Hall, Fleur made her way towards the gate, linking arms with Davies. Cheekily smiling, she stopped walking half way through and looked at him.
"Monsieur Davies" Fleur started.
"Roger." He interrupted her quickly, "Please, call me Roger."
"Roger." Fleur laughed, and she knew that the sound of her laugh was ringing in his ears. "I seem to be wi'zout a date for 'ze Yule Ball."
"Oh." Davies grinned and scratched his head. "Yeah, I've heard something about that."
It was pretty much common knowledge on Hogwarts grounds, that Fleur had yet to chose a date. The quarter-Veela had bluntly, politely or even mockingly - depending on the situation - rejected anyone who had asked her, and as far as the rumour-mill of Hogwarts knew, she hadn't asked anyone herself.
"You see, I 'ave been putting it off, I'm afraid. But now 'ze Ball is getting eerily close." Fleur chuckled and her blue eyes locked with Davies', her hand resting lightly on his arm as she asked "I was wondering if you wanted to come wi'z me."
"Yeah, well..." Roger said with a sad look on his face "I'm sort of already going with someone."
"Oh." Fleur's frowned, and her hand let go of Roger's arm. He rubbed the place where her hand had rested mere seconds ago, and Fleur smirked inwardly, knowing that he was missing her touch. They always did.
"Zat is a pity. I fear I must ask someone else 'zen." Fleur smiled, filled with charm, "Merci, monsieur Davies, for letting me down so easy." She turned around and her hair - not in her usual knot for the sheer sake of this moment - flicked dramatically alongside the motion.
"Wait!" Davies called after her, and Fleur smiled before she turned around again. Three steps, that was all it had taken.
"Of course I'll go with you." Davies said in one breath.
Fleur frowned "But I 'zought you were going wi'z someone already?" Was she pushing it too far? She wasn't even flashing her thrall.
"I'll tell Jessica tonight. She'll understand." Davies assured her quickly and he grinned at her.
"Well, if you are sure, I guess tout est bien." Fleur smiled warmly and slowly kissed him on the cheek, lingering for a moment to make sure he could smell her perfume before she stepped away.
"Yeah.." Davies said, clearly not believing his luck when Fleur walked away.
When Fleur glanced back, right before she walked out of the castle, she could see Hermione standing still next to Harry Potter and the Weasley kid. She smirked as she saw how pale Hermione was when the bushy-haired girl made an almost invisible wand movement.
When she heard the muffled noise of Davies stumbling to the ground thanks to his hexed-together shoelaces, she couldn't hold in a laugh anymore.
Fleur didn't stop grinning all the way to the carriage, Hermione, the ethics-before-all-witch, had hexed a boy out of sheer jealousy. Admittedly, it was an innocent hex, something Fleur had probably done a hundred times, but she was glad to see that Hermione wasn't taking the entire situation too well. Served her right, Fleur thought smugly, ignoring the pang of guilt in her stomach. She missed Hermione.
"What on earth are you doing?"
Looking up from her improvised map of the lake, Fleur saw Inès and Isabella standing in front of her desk. She hadn't heard either of them enter.
"Working on mapping out the lake." Fleur said softly, pointing at the large piece of parchment in front of her. "Pretty much what I've been doing every evening."
"We're not talking about that, Fleur." Isabella sighed, and sat down in one of the armchairs by the fire.
Standing up from behind her desk, Fleur walked over to the small sitting area and dropped inelegantly next to Inès on the couch.
"Then what are you two talking about?" She asked smilingly, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
"You and the fourth year." Inès said slowly.
"Which fourth year?" Fleur asked disinterestedly and pushed a string of blond hair behind her ear. "You mean Hermione? The one from Gryffindor?"
"You haven't really talked to any other fourth years regularly now, have you?" Isabella said.
Fleur smirked: "You two obviously haven't been paying attention. I'm sure I've talked to Harry Potter quite a few times."
"He doesn't count."
"Well, I don't think mister Potter would like to hear that." Fleur grinned.
"Stop it." said Inès harshly. "Don't you think we wouldn't notice you sneaking out to go on dates with that girl?"
"Hermione?" asked Fleur innocently, staring at Isabella, who was staying suspiciously quiet.
"Oui. Hermione."
"Well, I think I have the right to have some fun, even if I'm defending the school's honour." Fleur laughed again.
"Fun? To us it seemed like you were quite serious about her." Isabella joined in. "We're not fools, Fleur, we see things. And lately it seems like you've been acting out because of her. What happened? Did you two break up?"
"Oh come on." Fleur frowned in annoyance and stood up from the couch. "You thought she was special? You've seen me do this a hundred times before. It was just a fling. I was just having fun."
"You're generally not this vengeful over your - as you call it - flings." Inès waved Fleur's argument away. "You're not as obnoxious as you want people to see you."
"Allez! I thought you were my friends." Fleur laughed loudly "I thought you knew me. I'm Fleur Delacour, the ice-Veela. I play with people's feelings just because I can, remember?"
"That's not true." Isabella frowned.
"Quoi? Didn't you read that article?" Fleur chuckled. "Rumours exist for a reason. Look, you don't have to worry about me. I'm just bored."
"Fleur.."
"I'm going for another swim in the lake, after those stupid creatures attacked me I didn't get the chance to explore what I wanted."
Isabella frowned "It's dark outside. You won't be able to see a thing."
"Maybe the task is at night, mes amies! I better practice!" Fleur laughed loudly and grabbed her bag with swimming material right before she walked out the door, leaving her two friends sitting quietly by the fireplace. They better be gone by the time she returned, Fleur wasn't up for another conversation like that one.
Quickly she left the carriage, Isabella was right, it was dark outside, but Fleur didn't care. Walking rapidly towards the side of the lake, she ignored the soft rain falling down on her.
"Delacour!" Someone called after her.
Putain, what was it with everyone today? Couldn't they simply leave her alone?
Turning around to see who it was, she frowned as she recognized Jacques Gaillard walking up to her. What on earth did he want.
"Delacour, wait up." Gaillard called again.
Stoically, Fleur waited until the pureblood had caught up with her. Her face showed nothing but disinterest. "What is it, Gaillard?" She asked in annoyance. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Busy with what?" He frowned, but his eyes were filled with sincere interest, which was not something Fleur was used to seeing in the pureblood's eyes. And he had a point, they were standing in an empty field of grass.
"Busy with being by myself." Fleur snapped for lack of a better answer. "Hurry up, I don't have all evening."
"Right." Gaillard said, momentarily distracted, "I wanted to ask you something."
Fleur sighed impatiently. "Quoi?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Ball with me." Gaillard asked nervously. "I know we haven't gotten off on the right foot but - "
"You must be joking." Fleur cut him off, and shook her head incredulously.
He wasn't though. Fleur stared at the pureblood in disbelief for a few seconds, and then started laughing loudly.
"What on earth made you think I'd be willing to go with you?" Fleur sneered.
"Well, I was hoping - "
"You humiliated me." Fleur said in a voice dripping with disdain "You told that horrible woman about me."
"I admit that might have been a mistake but - "
"A mistake?" Fleur laughed in disbelief.
"Je suis désolé." Gaillard lifted his hands in a gesture of peace at Fleur's harsh reaction. "Look, I was wrong okay, you rejected me so harshly before and I was just .. hurt. It was petty. And I'm sorry."
"You think an apology will make things right again?" Fleur mocked Gaillard loudly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What else was this week going to throw at her? Pudding? "I wouldn't be willing to go out with you even if they put a wand to my head."
Fleur took a little step closer to Gaillard and smiled coldly at him. She stretched out her hands and carefully adjusted his tie. "I would never go out with someone like you." She whispered barely audible and the air was crackling around them with her thrall.
She let go of his tie and smirked. Then, she turned around and started walking toward the lake again. With every step she took, it was more difficult to swallow away her tears. Hermione.
HERMIONE (Girl's Dormitories, 25th of December, 5.12 p.m.)
With a thundering blow the hexed snowball hit the window next to Hermione's bed and she could only sigh. She should never have shown Ronald how to hex a snowball, things were getting out of hand fast. A second snowball slammed into the still vibrating window and knowing Ron, more would soon follow.
Sighing in annoyance, she opened the window and with a jab of her wand and some mumbled words, she reversed the rapidly approaching snowball in its trajectory. With a smug smile on her face, she closed the window again after the ball had hit Ron right in the face. She had - after all - warned the boys about leaving her alone.
"I can't find my shoes." Ginny was scowling when she entered the - except for Hermione - empty fourth year dormitory. "I've looked everywhere, they are gone - gone I tell you!"
"You could always go barefoot." Hermione remarked absentmindedly, and stared at the periwinkle blue dressrobes currently resting on her bed.
"Who am I? Luna Lovegood?" Ginny scowled and dropped on Hermione's bed. "Can I borrow one of your pairs?"
"Who? And mind the dress, Ginevra." Hermione frowned and rather than risking imminent ruin, she picked it up and hung it by her dresser. "Besides, you're asking the wrong person. I don't really have any nice shoes but the pair I'm going to wear tonight."
"Always the practical one, aren't you." Ginny said in exasperation. "Well, as we have established, I can't ask Luna and I can't ask you, because you don't do nice shoes, so what am I going to do now?"
"Search for your shoes some more, I guess." Hermione shrugged and kept focusing on the dress. It had cost her a fair bit, but it was every bit as beautiful as it had been when she bought it. Her hand went over the soft material, careful not to crumple it before the Ball.
"Spiffing." Ginny sighed, then she raised an eyebrow. "Why are you already in here? The Ball doesn't start for another couple of hours, you know."
"The same reason that you are already looking for your shoes." Hermione said disinterestedly "I don't want to mess tonight up."
"Because - you know - you haven't done that already?" Ginny retorted with a sharp tongue.
The dark look in Hermione's eyes made Ginny burst out in laughter - it was a look she knew well; most of the time aimed at her brother - and Hermione simply shook her head in response, grabbing the large bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion off her nightstand.
"Let's do this." She muttered under her breath and walked over to the shared bathroom adjoining the dormitory. She'd read about the hair potion in a copy of Lavender's Witch Weekly, a magazine generally found all over the fourth year dormitory - much to Hermione's dismay - but as much as she loathed to admit it, she'd read it every so often.
Ginny quickly grabbed the towel hanging over the side of the bedpost, and followed Hermione into the bathroom. "I still don't see why you would to this." Ginny raised an eyebrow and ruffled her hand through Hermione's hair. "I quite like your curls."
"And you are about the only one, Ginny." Hermione dismissed her and dodged Ginny's hand in her hair, but the smile tugging at her mouth showed that she appreciated the compliment. She reached over and grabbed the showerhead, then Hermione leant over the side so only her hair would get wet and turned on the water. Only to step back mere seconds later. Shaking her head in annoyance, she mentally scolded herself, after four years, she still seemed to forget that the water was freezing cold for the first twenty seconds.
"The only one? I'm darn sure Fleur loves them curls more than I do." Ginny spoke lightly and hopped on the side of one of the sinks.
"Well, thank Merlin I'm not going with Fleur then." Hermione joked uneasily, right before she stuck her head under the by now comfortably warm stream of water. "Meaning I'm going for sleek."
"Yes. Thank Merlin you are not going with Fleur." Ginny said ironically "We'd miss out on so much drama if you would just go with the damn girl."
The stream of water sent her way by Hermione made Ginny hop off the side of the sink in laughter and hide for a second outside of the bathroom. When Hermione was done spraying water all over the place, she entered again.
"Just let it go already." Hermione said while massaging the shampoo into her hair. "It's much easier this way."
"For you or for Fleur?"
"For everyone." Hermione shrugged, and rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. "Can you hand me that Sleekeazy's hair stuff? "
"Yes. It is indeed much easier for Ronald, not knowing you can get the girl but he can't. " Ginny chuckled and handed Hermione the bottle. "So how does that potion work?"
"I'm guessing it's like muggle conditioner. But magical." Hermione opened the bottle - still hanging over the side of the shower so that only her hair would get wet - and poured a rather generous amount of the pink potion over her head. "I didn't quite read the side of the bottle, I'm afraid."
Faking shock, Ginny held a hand in front of her open mouth. "No! What is wrong with you?!"
"Don't fuss, Ginny." Hermione laughed and tried applying the potion on every string of her immense bush of hair.
"Well, thanks to all those times my mother tried to form me into a proper lady, I actually know what to do next." Ginny grimaced at the thought of Molly Weasley coming after her with a hairbrush, and spread the towel over Hermione's shoulders. "You need to let it work in."
Reaching over, Ginny turned off the water, and together with a dripping Hermione walked out of the bathroom and sat back down on the bed.
"So. I guess you are really going to do this?" Ginny asked slowly, still questioning if the whole Yule Ball was a good idea.
"Yes." Hermione nodded in affirmation. "I can't quite back out now, can I?"
"True." Ginny sighed. "But this is a bomb waiting to explode, honey."
"Then let it explode." Hermione laughed it off. "It won't be that spectacular."
"I'm not so sure about that." Ginny frowned deeply "Have you seen Fleur these days?"
"Ginny." Hermione said down-right dismissively "Let it go. I'm going with Viktor and I'm going to have a good time."
"But why?" Ginny tried one last time. "I know he's charming and all that, but dear lord woman, you are head over heels for Fleur, not mister Super Seeker!"
"Because Fleur is trying to get a rise out of me. Like she has been doing all week. And I'm not going to let her spoil my evening."
Hermione stood up and went back to the bathroom where she washed out the remainder of the potion. Grabbing the towel again, she started drying her hair. Once she figured it was dry enough, she glanced at the mirror and promptly lowered the towel in surprise.
"Viktor is one lucky Triwizard Champion." Ginny said softly from the door opening. "You look absolutely stunning." The redhead walked over to Hermione and smiled while patting her friend on the back.
"And I'm not even wearing my dress yet." Hermione laughed, plucking at her rather inelegant shirt coupled with her pyjama-bottoms.
"Even if you went like this, all eyes would be on you." Ginny grinned. "I have to say, I like the wild bush of hair - I really do - but this is something else."
"Not something I'm willing to do every day though. Besides, that hair potion is ridiculously expensive." Hermione remarked and walked toward her dresser. Taking off the periwinkle dress, she smiled. "Can you believe I'm actually looking forward to tonight? I need a bit of mindless fun."
"I wouldn't exactly call Krum mindless, honey. I heard he's somewhere around third in his class, and like a prodigy in duelling." Ginny said. "Anyhow. I'm going to look for my shoes again. I really can't do without. How else will I survive Neville?" She dramatically tap-danced her way across the dormitory, causing Hermione to grin in response.
"Poor you." Hermione said. "I heard he's trying his best though."
"Obviously he is, he's a nice enough boy." Ginny sighed deeply "If only Harry had asked me sooner."
Surprised, Hermione turned around to stare at Ginny. "He what?"
"Yes." Ginny nodded. "But only out of sheer desperation for not finding anyone else."
"Would you have said yes if Neville hadn't asked you already? Knowing it was out of sheer desperation?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"And putting aside all of my self-respect? Honey, don't you know me yet?" Ginny grinned. "Of course I would have said yes!"
The redhead turned around laughingly and walked out of the dormitory to continue her search for the shoes, leaving her friend shaking her head while smiling.
High time to get ready.
Half an hour before the Yule Ball was about to start, Hermione sneaked out of the Gryffindor tower - after forcing Lavender for once not to tell Parvati about her transformation; it was a surprise after all - to go out to the Durmstrang ship, where she had agreed to meet Viktor. She smiled warmly as she remembered how he had graciously offered to come and pick her up at the entrance to the Common Room. He was a lot more considerate than she had expected him to be. But, that would ruin the surprise, so she had told him she would come to him.
Outside the castle it was freezing, and Hermione found herself wishing she had brought something vaguely resembling a cardigan. Rubbing her arms to keep warm, she glanced sideways at the Beauxbatons Carriage. Instead of going right - as she had always done to meet Fleur - she went left. Swallowing away the nervousness, she tried to remind herself why this was a good idea again.
Her mind was blank. She simply couldn't remember.
How did it all end up like this, she wondered. Fleur going with that git of a Davies, and she going with Krum. As she walked ever closer to the Durmstrang ghost ship, she couldn't help but think how different this night would have been if she would have been going with Fleur; how shocked her friends would have been, but also how much she would have loved to dance with Fleur.
"Hermy-own."
The voice coming from the deck of the ship almost made her jump up in surprise.
"Hi Viktor." Hermione smiled and careful not to fall into the water, she walked up the gangway to the ship, accepting his stretched out hand to aid her on board.
"Good evening." Krum smiled lightly, leant forward and kissed her on the cheek as a greeting. "You look absolutely beautiful."
Hermione blushed at his greeting, before telling him that he looked quite nicely himself in his stylish black dressrobes with blood red accents - like his bowtie - to accentuate him being a Durmstrang student. His dark hair had been cut a little shorter and he had shaved off the stubble he generally had.
"Do you vant to come inside before we go to the castle?" He asked, waving towards an entrance leading into the ship. "I'm afraid my headmaster is still not finished fixing his hair." He said with noticeable distaste.
Chuckling at the idea of Karkaroff in front of a mirror, Hermione followed Viktor into the ship down a flight of stairs. At the end of the stairs, Hermione's mouth dropped at the sight of the immense wooden hall built along the lines of Nordic traditions. It was filled with long wooden benches and tables, the walls draped with rich tapestries and there was a warm fire burning in the middle. Somehow, this was not what she had in mind whenever she had thought about the Durmstrang Ship. As shoddy as it looked on the outside, as magnificent it was on the inside.
"Impressive, right?" Viktor grinned. "I alvays like the look on people's faces vhen they step in here for the first time."
"Yes." Hermione said rather flabbergasted and started to walk around, stretching her neck to see every detail of the hall. "This is amazing!"
Viktor Krum chuckled, and went with a hand through his freshly cut hair. "Ah, before I forget." He said, turning around and picking a paper bag off the table.
"Merry Christmas." He smiled and held out the bag to her "I am so sorry that it is not gift vrapped. It only arrived by ovl this morning.."
"Oh.." Hermione said and accepted the gift, peeking inside the bag, she fished out a fine silk scarf of a slightly darker colour blue than her dress. "Viktor, ... you shouldn't have." She said shocked while holding the fine material in her hands.
He laughed and took the scarf out of her hand, and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I know, but I vanted to."
Stunned, Hermione clasped the material together with her right hand. "I didn't get you anything.." She said slightly embarrassed.
"That's okay." Viktor spoke lightly, and crumbled the paper bag up in a ball, before throwing into the fireplace and sending her a charming smile. "You didn't have to, you going to the ball vith me is present enough."
Again, a blush crept onto Hermione's cheeks.
Viktor was anything but the grumpy and sullen Quidditch hero she'd thought he was. He was charming, smart and for the half hour that they had to wait for Karkaroff to finally appear out of his chambers - the central hall of the ship was by now filled to the brim with waiting Durmstrang students and their dates - he had made her feel at ease with the idea of going to the ball with him.
When the headmaster finally made his entrance, Hermione linked arms with Viktor, and together with the rest of the Durmstrang delegation they walked towards the castle. Secretly, she was really happy with the scarf. Not only was it top notch material, it was also perfect against the cold weather outside. Still, she shivered.
"Are you cold, Hermy-own?" Viktor asked politely, noticing how she clung to the scarf to keep her warm.
"Just a tad." She smiled at her date. "But we'll be inside in no time, so no need to worry."
"If you say so." He frowned, "Are you ready?" Viktor asked softly once they were at the gates to the castle.
Hermione swallowed and nodded. She was.
With a bored flick of the headmasters wand, the doors to the castle opened, and the Durmstrang students walked in.
"Viktor!" Karkaroff called. "You go stand with the champions, I will go on ahead with the rest."
Viktor nodded and with a slight nudge ushered Hermione to come with him. "The hall looks beautiful.." He mumbled, impressed by the decorations and Hermione smiled. Fleur never thought the decorations were beautiful. She had made that very clear during the past week.
She nodded as a way of hello towards Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory, who were patiently waiting beside the doors to the Great Hall. When her eyes linked with Harry's she almost started laughing at the look of shock in his eyes. His jaw dropped.
He was standing next to Parvati, and she too looked at Hermione in complete surprise. She made a mental note to thank Lavender. The girl had - for once - kept her mouth shut.
"Hi, Harry!" she said nervously "Hi, Parvati!"
"Hello.." Harry gaped at her, and she was tempted to shove him.
But then his eyes - like those of everyone else in the entrance hall - flickered to somewhere behind her, and she turned around to see what the fuss was about.
It was Fleur.
A/N: I know I promised this chapter would be about the Yule Ball, and in essence I started on it already in this one. But when I started writing it turned out I had still so much more to tell. So next chapter will be The Yule Ball Part II, and will be about just that night. Estimated upload time: 14 days maximum.