A/N: Apparently I take my time these days with uploads and I really am sorry for that, but here finally is the next chapter. It's a bit shorter than I had originally planned to, but after two months I just figured I better upload what I have. Don't worry, I'm still not finished with this story and I'm serious about writing it 'till the end.
To all the people that left a review: thank you so much. Please do so again if you have the time. It really means a lot.
But most of all my thanks still go out to my amazing beta Peeves' Best Friend. Who actually manages to encourage me to write these days..
FLEUR DE LA MER
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Sparring Session
FLEUR (Lakeside, 29th of December, 3.23 pm)
For a second there, time seemed to stand still and they just aimed their wands at each other in a silence that was only broken by the continued howling of the wind. Snow was drizzling down fast now - the beginnings of a blizzard - and the whole world around them was white. Out of the corner of her eye, Fleur could see the lights of the castle in the distance, but then the pureblood sent a Stunner her way and the only thing Fleur could think about was dodging.
Jacques Gaillard smiled haughtily as Fleur stepped aside and the Stunner flew past her; he was good and she knew that. Dueling had been part of his life for as long as he could remember. Fleur, on the other hand, already cursed her decision to draw her wand.
"What are you afraid of Delacour?" He mockingly asked loudly as she barely dodged another Stunner and two Diffindos. "Looks like you aren't as good as everyone claims you are."
A scowl appeared on Fleur's face and she quickly cast an Expelliarmus that Gaillard effortlessly blocked with a lazy Protego.
Whatever she did, the bastard always seemed to be two steps ahead of her. Thanking Merlin inwardly for good reflexes, she dodged one spell after the other. Unfortunately her clothes were getting heavy with molten snow and having to slug through a thick layer of freshly fallen snow on top of that meant that she was slower than usual. Fleur knew that it was only a matter of time before she got hit by something and then it would be game over.
She cast an Immobulus, quickly followed by a Stunner but she just knew he had countered both while she hid behind a nearby tree to gain a few precious seconds to think. The air felt like it was crackling around her with her Thrall, for once too late to hold any effect on the situation
"What is it, Delacour?" Gaillard sneered loudly while Fleur leant against the tree's bask. "Need a second to catch your breath? Don't worry chérie, I'll go easy on you."
Fleur desperately needed to get the upper hand, it wasn't that she was bad at dueling, but Gaillard had had training all his life and she for some reason felt off, where was her Thrall? Why didn't he feel any effect? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, trying to banish the anger from her head so that she could battle him with a clear mind.
But he had called Hermione a whore and she would make him pay.
Suddenly the tree that she was hiding behind exploded into flames and Fleur's eyes widened in shock as she realized that the fight had just taken a turn towards the aggressive.
"Or maybe not." Jacques Gaillard spit out viciously as he ran forward, already starting the movement for his next spell.
Thrown forward because of the explosion, Fleur turned around quickly, ignoring the burns on her body and swiftly Banishing one burning tree chunk after another towards her aggressor.
A wicked smile appeared on her face as she noticed his difficulty with dodging and she laughed bitterly as he finally got knocked to the ground by the last piece that smashed into his stomach, making it impossible for him to finish his spell.
"Maybe I need to go easy on you instead." Fleur glared at the pureblood who fell to his knees.
He scrambled backwards through the snow, while Fleur cast one spell after the next. A Stunner, a Diffindo, an Incendio, quickly followed by a couple more Stunners all collided with a hastily conjured boulder used by Gaillard as a desperate defense.
That same boulder got blown away by a powerful Reducto, but the dark haired pureblood had expected something like it and a thundering Venti was sent Fleur's way, distracting her so she didn't see the snakes he had conjured up slithering towards her.
Fleur crushed the snakes quickly by banishing some more rocks and boulders towards them, but before she could do anything else, a powerful shield appeared between the two duelists.
Panting heavily, Fleur searched for the origin of the shield, which she found in the body of one angry looking Madame Maxime, next to a bewildered Professor McGonagall.
The narrowed eyes of the Headmistress of Beauxbatons took in her surroundings. Burning tree chunks were spread all over the snow-covered lakeside in which the two out-of-breath teenagers were left standing.
"What on earth is going on here?" Madame Maxime asked in a high-pitched, but no less threatening voice.
Her eyes went from Fleur to Gaillard to the burning pieces of tree and back to Fleur who was leaning forward, hands on her knees trying to regain control of her temper. Her normally perfect blond hair was messed up and her cheeks were red from the exertion she had put in the duel. She had a bleeding cut starting behind her right ear, running down to her chin and her clothes were ripped, but at least she didn't look worse than Jacques Gaillard, whose expensive black coat had lost an entire sleeve and his scarf was now burning beside him on the ground. A nasty bruise was already forming on the pureblood's left cheek and his arms were clutching his stomach in pain, where the chunk of tree had hit him the hardest.
When her two students did nothing but glare at each other, Madame Maxime sighed in annoyance. "Well?" She bellowed "Is anyone going to tell me what 'appened or do I 'ave to drag it out of you?"
"Sparring session."
Fleur's eyes shot to Gaillard, who had curtly answered his headmistress's question.
He glared at her again, but she instantly understood what he was trying to do and begrudgingly spoke "Oui. We were sparring."
"A sparring session?" Professor McGonagall said disbelievingly, "Madame Maxime.."
"You expect me to believe 'zis was a sparring session?" Madame Maxime gritted her teeth as she gestured at the destruction in front of her.
"Oui." Jacques Gaillard straightened his figure and stared stoically at Madame Maxime. "I was 'elping Delacour."
"Wi'z ze tournament." Fleur added and looked at the headmistress "'E is 'elping me prepare for ze second task."
"And believe me when I say she needs it." Gaillard shrugged. " 'Er Diffindo is weak at best."
Shaking her head at the blatant lie the two students were telling, Maxime looked sideways at Professor McGonagall who was staring in openmouthed shock at her normally perfect school grounds.
"Get to the infirmary." Madame Maxime spoke curtly, after a pause. "I will be talking about consequences later."
Clutching her wand, Fleur started walking towards the castle, with Gaillard following closely. The cut on her cheek was starting to sting and with the last remnants of adrenaline ebbing away, she was starting to feel the burns left by the exploding tree.
In the distance she could hear Madame Maxime thanking Professor McGonagall "Zank you for informing me of what was going on 'ere. I will make sure zey will receive ze appropriate punishment for unsupervised sparring."
"You must be kidding" Fleur heard Professor McGonagall protest "That was not sparring."
"You are not suggesting that my students would participate in an illegal duel, are you Professor McGonagall?" Maxime raised her voice. "Because I assure you, zey would not."
Fleur smirked as she left the two Professors' earshot, but that smile fell from her face as she noticed Gaillard groaning in pain as he sped up to walk beside her.
"My Diffindo is weak at best?" Fleur grimaced and broke the silence. "You know this isn't over right?"
"I wouldn't expect it any other way." Gaillard retorted. But instead of bickering further, the pair walked without further conflict to the infirmary.
Hermione (Library, 29th of December, 4.00 pm)
Four gongs echoed softly through the almost empty library, indicating that tea had started in the Great Hall and the few people left in the gigantic maze of books gathered their things to go enjoy their daily cup of tea. Hermione on the other hand, didn't. No, the bushy haired girl was lost in a thick and dusty old book on the laws defining arithmancy. She wasn't that interested in tea, not right now anyway, when the Great Hall would be filled with people who would start to whisper as soon as she set a foot past the door.
It was a shame really, she was missing tea for the third day in a row now and it honestly was a pain, she liked her daily cup of dark black tea with a bit of honey. But ever since the first rumours started - and after the article appeared - she had figured it was simply easier to weather the storm in a familiar and warm environment.
There was only one warm and familiar environment left in the entire castle, really. The Common Room and her dorm weren't too welcoming anymore and Fleur's Carriage wasn't familiar except for Fleur herself. So, when push came to shove, the only place left for her to go to, was the library.
Not that she minded, she liked coming here, she always had. And this had been the stage for her first meetings with Fleur, Hermione thought back fondly. She missed Fleur, they hadn't seen each other much in the past couple of days. And this time not because they were avoiding each other. Hermione was just not ready to see anyone, especially after Harry's explosion last night.
He was hurt and she got that, and she had to admit she'd been a bit short-sighted by confiding in Ginny and not him. But unfortunately - it was one of Harry's more common issues - reality wasn't as black and white as he portrayed it to be.
She did trust him. She did love him. He was her best friend, her brother really, and yet she hadn't gone to him when it mattered most. She missed him, almost as much as she missed Fleur.
Speak of the devil, Hermione thought as she looked up when she heard footsteps coming her way.
"Harry." She spoke surprised, and she was, she honestly thought he was going to start avoiding her too, but here he was. He looked a bit fidgety, with his continued running of his hand through his hair and his glasses a tad askew on his nose.
"Hi Hermione." He spoke on edge, and before he could say anything else Hermione had jumped up from her chair and thrown her arms around his neck. She could feel him relax into the hug as he buried his face into her wild bush of hair.
"I'm so sorry." Hermione rambled, "I should have told you, and I really was planning to, I promise, everything just got so messed up and I didn't know what to do and.."
"It's okay." He said softly. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have overreacted, I was just so.. I don't know.. hurt, you know.. after everything that had happened with Ron earlier this year." He laughed miserably "I just didn't think that we would ever stop talking."
"And we won't!" Hermione exclaimed a bit too loudly, earning her a stern look from Madame Pince behind her desk. "We won't." She repeated more softly.
"Fleur's happy I told you too." She continued and let go of him so she could look into his green eyes.
"I know." He said, and he averted his eyes. "Hermione, about Fleur.. She's in the hospital wing." Harry continued and grabbed her hand after he saw the upcoming panic in her eyes.
"Why?" Hermione blurted out in a high-pitched voice. "What happened?"
"She got into a fight." He said and started gathering her things. "A duel or something, I came to get you as soon as I heard."
Hermione quickly grabbed her bag and started pushing things in as fast as she could. For once leaving the tower of books on the desk, instead of placing them back, she quickly followed Harry out of the library.
Lucky for them, the halls were practically empty, as most people were in the Great Hall enjoying their tea, which made it easier to make their way towards the infirmary. Although it was the middle of the afternoon, most light in the halls came from the torches, and through the large glass windows, Hermione could see the snowstorm raging outside, covering the castle in a blanket of fresh snow.
"Do you know anything else?" Hermione broke the uneasy silence.
"Apparently she ran into the pureblood who talked to Skeeter." Harry said, "And they fired spells at each other until McGonagall and Maxime broke up the fight. Ginny was in the entrance hall when they walked - well, stumbled more like it - into the castle. They looked like they'd tried to kill each other.." He continued "But that might be an exaggeration." He added quickly to calm her down "We both know how much Ginny likes her exaggerations."
"Yeah..." Hermione mumbled, but sped up anyways.
When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Hermione immediately threw open the doors, ignoring Madame Pomfrey's rapid protests and running over to the bed in which Fleur was resting.
As it turned out, Ginny hadn't been exaggerating, Fleur looked horribly pale with a nasty cut on the right side of her cheek.
"What were you thinking!" Hermione slapped her girlfriend with her bag and Fleur's eyes instantly flew open "Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"
"Miss Granger!" Madame Pomfrey said in shock as she paced over to Fleur's side. "That is not how you behave in my infirmary! Miss Delacour is hurt! If you are planning to only further her injuries, I have no choice but to throw you out!"
"S'il vous plaît.. let 'er stay." Fleur turned to the matron and grabbed Hermione's hand. "I'm glad zat she is 'ere."
Grumbling heavily and with some displeased looks thrown at Hermione, Madame Pomfrey nodded and walked back to her office. "But mister Potter has to go." She said over her shoulder. "Whenever he's here, things tend to get nasty."
Harry threw up his hands in defence and smiled at Hermione "It's fine, I promised to meet up with Ron anyways."
"Hope you get better soon, Fleur." He added before he walked out and closed the doors behind him.
Hermione turned back to Fleur and hugged her girlfriend, ignoring the groans of pain coming from Fleur. "Don't ever do that again."
"What? Defend your 'onour?" Fleur murmured and hugged Hermione back. "You misunderstand, I'd do zat every time."
"My honour?" Hermione said in surprise, letting go of Fleur and falling back into the chair next to the bed.
"I'll tell you ano'zer time." Fleur smiled and nodded to the figure two beds further who was seemingly out cold. "I missed you."
Blushing when Fleur reached for her hand again, Hermione enjoyed the company of the girl she hadn't seen in a while. "I missed you too."
"I'm done sneaking around." Hermione said after a comfortable pause. "If these people think that we shouldn't be together, that's their problem. I'm not going to be hiding anymore."
"Zat is good to 'ear." Fleur murmured and ran her thumb over Hermione's hand. "Especially if I just blew someone to pieces for you."
"Did you really?" Hermione looked sideways to the sleeping figure in the other bed. "What's wrong with him?"
"I broke 'is ribs." Fleur flashed her a crooked grin.
"And what did he do to you?" Hermione frowned.
"Err -" Fleur shuffled uncomfortably. "E gave me some burns.. and cut my cheek. No'zing zat your matron can't fix." She shrugged and groaned softly in pain because of the movement.
Placing her hand on Fleur's cheek, Hermione looked at the cut. It didn't seem to deep, and was already starting to heal thanks to the matron's treatment.
"Tis but a scratch." Fleur chuckled and stared into Hermione's amused eyes at the unexpected pop culture reference. "My fa'zer loves muggle television." Fleur added softly. "E forces me and Gabrielle to watch every so often."
"He sound like a great man." Hermione whispered and leant forward so she could feel Fleur's breath on her skin.
"E is." Fleur smiled "You would love 'im."
"I love everything about you." Hermione whispered and fondly kissed Fleur. She could taste some leftover medicine on Fleur's lips, but it didn't matter to her. All she wanted to do was kiss Fleur some more.
FLEUR (Hospital Wing, 9.17 pm)
When Fleur woke up again, she felt all groggy and her skin was itching like crazy thanks to the lovely side effects of an accelerated healing process. She lazily looked sideways, expecting to see Hermione in the chair next to her bed - exactly where she had been when Fleur had fallen asleep - but instead found herself looking at the grumpy face of her headmistress.
"Looking for your petite amie?" Madame Maxime asked curtly. "Don't bother, I sent her away."
"Pourquoi?" Fleur asked suspiciously. "I liked having her here, you know."
"I have no doubt." Maxime said in annoyance "Yet we hadn't finished talking after your little stunt from this afternoon."
Slowly but surely a scowl appeared on Fleur's face and she stretched her neck to look for Gaillard, but his bed was empty.
"Monsieur Gaillard refused to sleep in the hospital wing." Madame Maxime explained. "Something about British sheets that he doesn't like as much as his own bed."
"Bâtard." Fleur gritted her teeth at the mention of his name.
"Mind your language, mademoiselle Delacour." Maxime shot an angry look to her pupil. "You are already on thin ice, do us both a favour and hold your tongue until I'm finished."
Not liking the sound of that, Fleur sunk back into her pillow and closed her eyes to await the fury that she had no doubt her headmistress would unleash on her soon.
"I suppose you know that illegal duelling is grounds for expulsion?" Maxime spoke after a pause.
"C'était un sparring sess.."
"Sparring session, oui je sais." Maxime interrupted Fleur while shaking her head. "You really think I'd buy that? That was a duel and you know it."
"Madame.."
"Delacour, I asked you to hold your tongue until I'm done."
Sulking, Fleur crossed her arms in defiance and stared at the headmistress who narrowed her eyes while eying the cut on Fleur's cheek.
"Do you have any idea how long I had to argue with Professor McGonagall until she was willing to let the matter go?" The giant headmistress scolded. "And I am sure she is on her way to Dumbledore right now to push the matter a little further. You and Jacques have taken a huge risk deciding your little feud was cause enough for a full-blown duel."
Madame Maxime sighed and rose up from the chair. "Since you two were smart enough to think of damage control the moment I broke up the fight, I can at least pretend in public that this was indeed a sparring session, but have no doubt, I know what is going on between you two and I expect you to put this juvenile argument behind you. Until you have, you can join me in detention again, indefinitely. Just like your privileges are once again withdrawn indefinitely."
Nodding at Fleur to indicate she was done talking, Fleur took a deep breath and started to protest at once. "But he is the one who fired the first spell!"
"Oui, but according to him you pointed your wand at him first." Maxime pinched the bridge of her nose and reminded Fleur "Not that it matters anyway, in a sparring session."
The warning glare, not to push it, made Fleur swallow her next sentence and instead she glared back in protest.
"I thought you were finally leaving behind some of this childish behaviour of yours after you met this girl and got elected champion, but it seems that I was wrong." Madame Maxime said and started to walk towards the exit. "You are staying the night, by the way, Madame Pomfrey was mad enough about monsieur Gaillard just up and leaving."
The headmistress of Beauxbatons opened the doors of the infirmary and looked over her shoulder one last time to see Fleur stare at the ceiling in disbelief. "I expect you Friday evening in my office, 8 pm sharp. Don't be late."
DUMBLEDORE (Headmaster's Office, 9.20 pm)
"Minerva," the old headmaster sighed, "like I have told you before, there is nothing I can do."
His Transfigurations professor was pacing angrily in his office, as she had been doing for the last thirty minutes already.
"I don't care what they claim," Minerva McGonagall said in exasperation, "that was a full blown duel, Albus! They could have seriously hurt one another!"
"But they didn't - well not too badly anyway." Dumbledore shrugged and took a sip from his glass of mead. "and they are not Hogwarts students. As long as they reside on our grounds, they have to follow the rules, but there is no proof that it was a duel. Especially not if Olympe has their back."
"Albus, this is unacc..." Minerva continued angrily, but a knock on the door made her stop in the middle of her sentence.
"That must be Severus." Dumbledore smiled kindly "Punctual as ever."
The heavy oaken door opened and like the headmaster had predicted, the potion's master stepped through. If he was surprised at seeing McGonagall, he did not show it and instead nodded curtly to acknowledge her presence.
"Headmaster." Snape greeted shortly.
"Aah Severus!" Dumbledore spoke happily "Glad to see you. Minerva, if you wouldn't mind..."
McGonagall's eyes narrowed as the headmaster not so subtly dismissed her. "Albus," She said stiffly, "This cannot go without consequences."
"We'll discuss it another time." Dumbledore smiled again and his eyes clearly stated that she was overstaying her welcome.
With a brief nod to Snape, McGonagall turned around in a flash of tartan and disappeared through the doorway.
Severus Snape watched her go before his eyes moved back to his headmaster who was pensively stroking his long grey beard while waiting for Snape to speak. They stared at each other for a while, Dumbledore calmly waiting until the man clad in black would open his mouth.
"I have news." Snape finally broke the uneasy silence. "Malfoy slipped up yesterday."
"Good. Good." Dumbledore nodded and reached for a lemon drop. "Tell me everything, Severus."
"You know that the Dark Mark has been growing more visible in the last couple weeks." Snape started and sat down in a chair by Dumbledore's side, refusing to take a lemon drop out of the levitating bowl in front of him. "The Death Eaters still at large are still a bit divided on what it means though."
Snape shook his head in distaste as he continued: "A lot of them are scared, Karkaroff being a prime example, they have been living a comfortable life for the last couple of years, they don't really want the Dark Lord to come back."
"Interesting." Dumbledore smirked "Considering what happened at the World Cup, one would think that they would jump at the chance to rejoin him."
"Those morons wouldn't last a day in his company." Snape sneered, "Such a reckless act would not be something he would approve of."
"I suppose not," Dumbledore chuckled, "Tom has a more.. refined ... taste."
Snape raised an eyebrow as he stared at the old man in front of him. "I wouldn't call it refined, Dumbledore." He said curtly. "Nonetheless, the Death Eaters lucky enough to stay out of Azkaban don't really have a choice. We either go to him when he eventually summons us, or we run and hide." He sniggered "The latter would most likely get us killed, the Dark Lord knows how to hold a grudge."
"So he is getting ready to return then." Dumbledore said pensively. "It was inevitable."
"There is only one reason for the Dark Mark to grow visible." Snape shrugged, "Him getting stronger. Logically speaking, he is returning. I don't know why now, or when exactly, but the Dark Lord is returning."
"Do you know how?" Dumbledore asked.
"No." Snape said with a scowl "I just know that Malfoy and Nott have agreed to Apparate to his side when it comes to it. They are scared of him, yes, but Malfoy's sense for self-preservation has once again made the decision for him."
"I suppose we could have seen it coming." Dumbledore rose up from his chair. "Try and find out more, Severus, I have a feeling Hogwarts will get drawn into this very quickly, if we haven't been already." His crystal blue eyes narrowed as he eyed the full moon outside.
"Do you know who put Potter's name in the goblet yet?" Snape briskly changed the subject as his headmaster kept staring outside of the window.
"My, my, Severus, I didn't know you were so interested in Harry's wellbeing." Dumbledore grinned and he turned around to face his Potions master.
"I'm not." Snape spat and his black eyes seemed to glow in dismay. "I care about who broke through our security. I don't care if Potter lives or dies in this Tournament."
"Oh but you do, my friend." Dumbledore spoke softly and his eyes bore deep into Snape's. "You do."
FLEUR (Hogwarts' Main Gate, Saturday 31st of December, 9.01 am)
The snow hadn't stopped falling from the sky ever since Fleur and Gaillard had crossed wands two days earlier and by now all of Hogwarts was covered in a thick blanket of snow. And for as long as she was inside - close to a gently burning fire - Fleur loved the snow. The second she set foot outside though, it was bye bye fairytale, and she was once more reminded that while snow looked majestic, it was not her thing at all.
Inside, one could hear the voices of people, the scraping of chairs, the sounds of footsteps, roaring fires and turning pages. Outside there was no sound but that of the howling wind, since the last remaining bird had either died, or long fled to the south. Even the sound of the rustling trees of the forbidden forest - generally a common sound on Hogwarts' grounds - got drowned out by the excruciating wind.
But it wasn't the quiet of that wind that Fleur hated the most, no, it was the cold. The cold was horrendous and no matter how many layers of clothing she would wear, no matter how many different sorts of gloves she would try on, she would die the moment she set one foot outside of the castle or the carriage.
Fleur stuffed her freezing hands underneath her armpits in a fruitless effort to keep warm, while she was hiding from the wind underneath the gigantic arch that was Hogwarts' main gate. Before her eyes a pathway stretched out, leading to Hogsmeade, it had recently been cleared of snow, but was already showing signs of slowly disappearing again. She could see how her breath formed clouds when she breathed out, and hopped around while waiting for Hermione.
Who was late, Fleur frowned, Hermione was seldom late, but of course she had picked today as the perfect moment to let her girlfriend suffer in the cold. No, Hermione tended to be impeccably on time, unlike Fleur. Fleur would always be late, being late was her thing. But for some reason the roles were reversed today.
The sound of snow being crunched beneath feet made Fleur look up, but her hope was soon crushed as she recognised the nearing person as Viktor Krum, and not Hermione, who was now pushing late to new limits.
"Hello Fleur." Viktor Krum smiled as he got close enough, "beautivul day outside, don't you think?"
The evident shock in her eyes made the International Quidditch star burst out in a thundering laugh. "Vhat?" He grinned widely "Don't you like snov?"
"Not particularly, non." Fleur eyed him curiously. "I suppose zat you do?"
"Vell, I attend Durmstrang." He shrugged "It is either accept snov, or freeze to death."
A smile broke through Fleur's face as she stared at her fellow champion. He wasn't wearing his regular blood red Durmstrang robes, instead he was using the weekend -like so many students - as a chance to walk around the way he actually wanted to. Although the many different shades of brown and black weren't really her thing.
"Are you going to 'Ogsmeade?" She asked curiously "All alone?"
Looking over his shoulder, Viktor eyed the background behind him. "Seems like it, it must be too cold for my fan club to follov." His voice had a hint of relief in it when he continued. "I am meeting my manager in a pub down in the village, ahm - vhat's it called - the Broomstick? I suppose he found it a fitting place to meet up."
"I 'ave no idea." Fleur shrugged "I 'ave never been down before." She smiled only slightly apologetically "Maxime zought it was best to keep me close on ze grounds as long as I was still serving out my detention."
"I thought you still had detention?" Viktor scratched his hair as he looked at her, "I heard that you had a slight run-in vith one of your classmates."
"Let me specify" Fleur grinned darkly "My previous detention kept me from going off grounds. Luckily zough, zis one 'asn't said any'zing about remaining 'ere. So you 'ave 'eard about my little fight?"
"I think everybody knows." Viktor spoke. "To be frank, if you hadn't hexed the petty little man, I vould have." His hands balled up into fists as his voice trembled in anger "Hov dare he insult Herm-o-ninny.."
"She is mine, Viktor." Fleur spoke in a low voice, immediately regretting that she had spoken them, but she couldn't help feel a little threatened by the tall, smart Quidditch Champion.
But Viktor Krum just smiled as he raised his hands in a sign of resignation. "I know." He spoke. "And like I told her, I don't mind."
"Alright zen." Fleur said lightly. "Glad we cleared zat up."
"Vell, I have to go anyvay." Viktor stuffed his hands in the pockets of his fur coat. "My manager is vaiting."
As he slugged through the snow like it was nothing, Fleur went back to impatiently waiting in the freezing cold for Hermione to show up. Her stomach was slightly fluttering as even she had to admit that she was a little nervous for today.
It wasn't as much as admitting that the last couple days had been hard - because they had been - but simply acknowledging that she and Hermione were getting more serious was quite a lot to admit to herself. Of course Fleur had been in relationships before, but she couldn't remember ever having feelings like these. It felt different - for some reason - more intense that she had imagined before. Really, before Fleur had known it, she had fallen head over heels for the brightest witch at Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Fleur could suddenly hear and looked around to see her girlfriend battling the snow to reach her.
"You're late." Fleur muttered in fake annoyance, but Hermione simply giggled at her with a nose red from the murdering cold and threw her arms around Fleur in an enthusiastic hug.
"Don't fuss." The bushy-haired girl spoke before pressing her lips against Fleur's. "Are you ready for our first official date?"
"Wait, what?" Fleur said in shock. "Zis is a date?! Why did nobody tell me?"
"It was your idea, meanie." Hermione nudged Fleur in the side before linking arms and almost dragging the blonde in the direction of Hogsmeade.
"So, not to complain." Fleur said lightly with a toothy grin on her face. "But why did we 'ave to go outside? We could 'ave 'ad our first official date in my room, I believe zat would 'ave been much much more comfortable."
"Fleur!" Hermione laughed. "You just want to cuddle all the time!"
"What is wrong wi'z zat?" Fleur spoke in feigned shock. "I quite like cuddling."
"Me too." Hermione sighed contently "But this is our first ever real date. People know we are a couple now. It was time we had a date out in public. After all, nothing is stopping us now."
"Well," Fleur muttered "I'd like to zink zat ze cold is stopping us, but it clearly isn't."
"No." Hermione smiled and kissed Fleur on the cheek. "It isn't."
A/N (edit 28/12/2014) I'm now somewhere 3000 words into Chapter 14: Boys will be boys, and I plan on updating by the end of January. Don't shoot me if I don't though! - MsC