Hermione shook her head, laughing at Luna's quick wit, while in the background, Ron scowled unseen.

Today, the delegations arrived. They weren't the only ones excited, everyone was. It was a really refreshing change of pace. Everyone ate heartily that morning, as people do when in good moods.

When they finally did arrive, everyone rushed outside to go see.

A flying carriage, drawn by winged horses – beautiful, too, why, that must be Beauxbatons! What gorgeous horses. The ladies exiting that carriage – why, they were gorgeous too. Hermione blushed. She still hadn't decided about the straight or not thing.

"Look!" Harry said, drawing close behind her to point over her shoulder.

He'd spotted the mast of the Durmstrang ship – now this, Hermione had been excited to see! What incredible magic must be built into that ship, to emerge from a lake. That kind of travel – like a mass apparition or something completely different? The men manning that ship – they looked like they were students. That too, delighted her.

Still, they weren't able to be introduced properly to the students from either school until later that day. Everyone had classes, after all.

"Now is our chance, Harry!" Hermione cried out softly, "And how, how brilliant! Look, her," Hermione pointed, "She's a Veela. Oh, I hope she didn't seem me pointing."

"Well, come on then," Harry said, "Let's go talk to them."

They approached the group confidently, without hesitation, having even rehearsed this a little before. Hermione knew a fair bit of French – much more than Harry had expected her too.

In French, she greeted them. "Good afternoon, ladies! We were wondering if we might speak with you, if you aren't terribly busy. We were hoping to learn more about other schools."

The girls looked at each other a moment, but the Veela girl, who almost seemed to be their leader, ushered them off, "Don't worry, sweets," She said to them in French, "Go on ahead, I can finish later, I'll talk to them."

She turned and held out her hand to shake as the other students, looking grateful, nodded and hurried off.

"Apologies, we have work," She said, in somewhat accented English, "The Madame is giving us extra, so we will keep up. I work fast, so don't worry, I have time."

As Hermione shook her hand, beaming, the beautiful young Beauxbatons Veela let out a peal of laughter, a gorgeous, musical sound.

"Oh, apologies!" She said, "I'm Fleur, Fleur Delacour."

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said, "And this is Harry, Harry Potter. Your English is very good, by the way."

"And your French," Fleur said, returning the compliment, "I figured English would be better. Your companion, he doesn't speak French, no?"

Harry smiled good-naturedly "Afraid not, so thank you."

Fleur nodded. "And you're Veela, aren't you, Ms. Granger – Hermione?"

"Hermione," She said, delighted to be on first name basis with the girl already. Harry, too, insisted on being called by his first name.

They got on swimmingly. Hermione explained she'd only come into her Veela inheritance over the summer and was still getting used to it. She begged Fleur to tell her about Beauxbatons and Fleur was happy to oblige.

The school sounded even more amazing from the mouth of a student. It was interesting, though. Fleur was certainly not one to hold her tongue about what she thought. Thus far through the school day at Hogwarts, she was not impressed. She paid particular attention to the physical cleanliness of the school, saying it and its students had a distinctive smell, that it was too dark, and that the professors didn't seem at all professional.

Harry and Hermione both felt a little embarrassed. It must have showed on their faces, because Fleur laughed that musical laugh again and waved it aside.

"Not you two, don't you worry! Though, that red-headed boy who sits near you at your table – I saw him at lunch today, eating like such a pig. I'm glad you clearly aren't part of his group."

Ouch.

"Hehe, yeah," Hermione said, scratching the back of her head.

Fleur realized her blunder instantly.

"Oh, no!" She cried, "You aren't friends are you? I'm sure that messy, disgusting pig is a perfectly nice young man."

Harry laughed, "It's all right, he is a pretty messy eater. And we... kind of had a sort of falling out, recently. We're giving him some time to cool off."

Fleur nodded. She seemed to be physically biting her tongue to avoid saying something nasty about Ron.

"Well," Hermione said, "Thank you so much for telling us about Beauxbatons. We'll probably try to get the opinions of a few other students as well. Before you go, though, I was wondering if we could talk a little about Veela...?"

"I could go, if you'd like me too." Harry said, "I know Hermione doesn't mind, but I understand Veela nature is a primarily feminine topic in a few respects."

"I don't mind," Fleur said, apparently answering both questions at once, "What would you like to know?"

"Well, everything, for a start!" Hermione cried out, "But I suppose a little clarification on the allure might be a good starting point. I've used it, a little – only once, when I was pretty shocked. It seemed really effective."

Fleur nodded, "It is and it'll only get better as you get older. People underestimate the power of the Veela. It's not our other form that most defines our power – it's the allure. The raw power can distract men and women alike if you amp it up enough. It's debilitating to most humans."

"That's another thing – Harry here doesn't seem to be affected – but only by my allure."

"Oh?" Fleur asked, looking curious. "Show me."

Hermione blushed a bit, as they were in public, but supposed it must a nature thing to most normal Veela. She pushed her allure to be more and strangely, was able to far better feel Fleur's presence. She could even detect Luna, though she was far away in the castle. Another power of the Veela?

She turned it back down again. Some boys in the courtyard were staring, but moved on after she stopped.

"Do you mind, Harry, if I attempt my allure?" Fleur asked, "It's a little bit more powerful than you might be used to."

The wave of it hit Harry like a sudden gale, actually staggering him backwards. Fleur – she was beautiful, but so – how had he never noticed before, so gorgeous, so -!

He was himself again the moment she drew it back.

"I see you weren't wrong, Hermione. How strange, I'm afraid I don't know the cause. I can write to my grandmother, if you like. She's full Veela, she might know much better."

"Oh," Hermione said, "You don't have to do that..."

"It's no bother," Fleur said, shrugging her shoulders, "By the way... are you aware of the other Veela within this school?"

"Luna," Hermione said, nodding, "She's a friend of mine actually."

Fleur seemed amused by something or another.

"How unusual – to find one Veela in Hogwarts, but to find two?"

"Takes some getting used to, doesn't it?" Harry said dryly, making both girls laugh.

Fleur had to leave then – even she needed time to do her school work, but she made the two promise to introduce her to 'the other English Veela' sometime soon.

"I'm happy we did that." Hermione said. She really looked it too, which made Harry smile warmly.

"Speaking of Ron..." He started.

Hermione nodded tiredly, "You're right, it's about time we talked to him."

Cornering Ron, surprisingly, wasn't very easy. He could be slippery when he wanted to be, but they managed it eventually where he couldn't bring himself to run off – dinner.

"Hey, Ron," Hermione said, sounding deliberately casual.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said, sounding miserable.

"We're not really mad at you anymore," Harry said.

"I'm not mad at you either," Ron said, puffing out his cheeks in a sort of defeat. "I'm... sorry about that, Hermione."

"It's okay." Hermione said, "Let's just go back to normal, then."

Ron nodded and the three finished the meal quietly. It was a pretty easy thing to do, because Dumbledore announced that night how the three champions would be decided.

"Wish I could put my name in," Ron muttered, low.

"Na," Harry said effectively giving his thoughts on the matter.

"Do you think Fleur will enter?" Hermione asked as they walked back to their dorms, "She's old enough, I'm sure."

"Fleur?" Ron asked.

"Beauxbatons girl we met today. You were a bit busy sulking." Harry explained.

"She was very nice, a Veela, too. She wants to meet Luna. We haven't arranged anything yet."

"I think I know which one she is," Ron said, "Tall, pretty broad with the silvery-blond hair, right?"

"Well, that could actually describe a couple girls from Beauxbatons, but Fleur is one of them," Harry said.

Ron nodded. "She's really pretty," He said, speaking lightly to the air.

Maybe he'd ask her out instead. Hermione wasn't exactly heartbroken about the truth to his interest, but it did hurt a little. Clearly, he only wanted to ask because he found her beautiful. Well, she had to admit, she was beautiful.

"Huh, take me with you to that meeting, would you? I'd like to meet Fleur too." Ron said.

"Sure," Hermione said, eager to smooth things over with him further.

Over the next few days, quite a few people were seen entering, Cedric Diggory among them.

"Him and Angela are the favourites for Hogwarts champion." Harry said to Hermione.

"I'm glad us younger students can't enter." Hermione said, "I'd be scared for Ron."

"Ah, he wouldn't get chosen, no way," Harry said. "None of us would. Diggory's a world above us."

"I guess you're right." Hermione said, shrugging.

A few days later, Hermione was out reading under a tree near the lake to calm her mind. A shadow fell over her, then disappeared to the side. A boy sat next to her – probably a man, from his stature. Oh, god, she recognized him, actually. Viktor Krum, the guy Ron was crazy about, the Bulgarian Quidditch star.

"Sorry," He said in accented English.

"Um, no worries." Hermione said, "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Viktor." He said shaking her hand. She noticed he didn't give his last name – maybe he didn't want her to know who he was.

"I noticed you reading out here, always." He continued. His English wasn't so good as Fleur's, but still understandable.

"Yes, I like to read." Hermione said.

Viktor smiled. He was very good-looking, especially smiling, Hermione noticed.

"I like flying," He said. She wondered if he was practising his English on her. She certainly didn't mind. The only way to get good at a language was to speak it.

"What do you like about flying?" She found herself asking.

"The air, rushing through me. The speed, excitement. Not only that, though. I like the feeling, to see the world. Not always going fast, going slow sometimes. Taking it in. Beauty. Clear air." He said.

Hermione found herself entranced.

They talked like that, every now and again, when Viktor found Hermione alone. His English was a little bad, but he was still interesting enough. He liked watching her read. It was a little odd at first, but she got used to it.

Ron was livid when he found out.

"Viktor Krum?" He shouted, "You've just been getting pally with Viktor Krum and you didn't want to tell me?"

"Not like that, it just didn't come up in conversation. We've only talked a few times, it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal. Only my freaking hero, and he's not a big deal. Of course. You being a star yourself now, Krum, he's just small fry isn't he?"

Hermione glared daggers at him, "Ron, you're being a jerk again."

"Oh, sorry," He said, "Didn't mean to offend her royal highness."

"Just shut up!" She shouted, even louder than she'd meant to.

Ron seemed shocked. He scowled at her, then bolted.

Luna, who had been sitting next to her in silence, leaning a little on Hermione and resting her head on the older girl's shoulder, gave a little shrug of her own shoulders.

"Ron struggles with friends, doesn't he?" She said dreamily.

Hermione turned and touched the top of Luna's head with her chin.

"Yes, he does." She said, "He can be a real ass-hole sometimes."

Luna giggled lightly at her language, making Hermione smile. She'd lost her patience with Ron lately. His words didn't hurt her like they used to, maybe they weren't close enough to anymore.

"Wrack-spurts." Luna said confidently.

"Wrack-spurts." Hermione said.

Harry took her side again, even though he heard the story from Ron first and yet again Ron was cut out of their circle so he could cool his head.

Fleur and Krum both ended up being introduced to the group and when they weren't busy, would hang out a little. Hermione found herself and Luna becoming closer to Fleur, rapidly. The older girl was a wealth of knowledge about themselves and their people.

That almost felt strange. Hermione had a people now.

Krum joining them, while wonderful for its own merits, seemed to serve to make Ron more furious. Hermione suspected it would be quite a while before they could talk civilly again, but strangely, didn't find herself missing his company. They used to be a trio, but now, there was Harry, Ginny, Luna, and often enough, Fleur and Krum. Parvati, even, dropped by on occasion with her sister or Lavender. Hermione felt strangely responsible for the fellow Gryffindors' well-being and liked hearing updates about how things were going with her parents.

They weren't happy with it, not fully. Not so much because of, well, the thing itself, but because of marriage prospects. They'd hoped to set Parvati up in a political marriage, now she was refusing.

Krum in particular was very angry about that.

"It's stupid." He said, "Love who you love, my brother, my little brother, he's gay. Wonderful brother. Has a boyfriend. Nice boy."

"They get along?" Parvati asked.

"They get along very well, he's a nice boy. He hurts my brother, I pummel him into the ground."

Everyone laughed a little. Krum's sentiments came across a little oddly sometimes, but his English was steadily getting better.

Both he and Fleur had entered their names into the Tournament.

"I wish they wouldn't have," Hermione confessed to Harry one night when they had a moment to be alone.

"They'll be fine, Hermione," Harry said, comforting her in an embrace, "They're a lot older than us, a lot wiser. Both of them, tough as nails, too."

"Yeah," Hermione said, "Fleur especially, huh?"

Harry nodded. She felt it rather than saw it, just over the top part of her head.

"Thank you, Harry. For everything, I mean." Hermione said, "You're always here for me, to listen to my silly concerns, babbling."

"I love you, Hermione," Harry said, "I like being with you, so of course -"

Realizing what he had said, Harry back-pedalled a bit.

"I – I mean, friendship love. In a friendship way."

Hermione giggled at him, "You know, it's all right, Harry. Honestly... I've got another sort of confession. Only sort of, because maybe it's nothing at all. I don't really know how I feel about you, Harry. I – I've been thinking, all the time..."

They were still in each other's arms, silent for a while.

"I don't know anything, really. And Harry," She tightened her grip on him, banishing tears, "I don't want to act on them, try anything. Not right now. Um, next year. Let's wait to figure this out until next year."

"Next year?" Harry asked.

"Promise me," She said, "You, me, we both go out with other people in the meantime. You never end up with the first person you date, it's like a rule or something. And I don't know how I feel yet, anyway. Just, you signing those letters 'love Harry', I guess it made think about things."

Harry laughed out loud, "You started that!"

"I know!" Hermione said, blushing, "But you, you continued it!"

They laughed together a while and both left for bed with a weight off their chests.

Harry, though, wondered. Next year? Something about that, they way she'd said it, her tone. It was really a specific sort of tone.

He ignored it, in the end, because it didn't matter. Hermione was right, too – you never end up with the first person you go out with – it's like a rule.

If he really liked Hermione, then she shouldn't be his first. Both of them would date something this year – that was like a promise. And now that things were, in a way, settled, Harry felt much better. It was almost a sort of magical feeling.

The night when the goblet was set to pick the champions, everyone was slightly on edge. Hermione didn't know if she wanted Fleur and Krum to have good luck or bad luck – she didn't know which was which either.

Just her luck, then. Fleur, Viktor, Diggory. They'd both be competing. That was good, right? They wanted to. They were strong, too, like Harry said, tough as nails.

There was a sense of relief in the air, at least it was over. The dead silence broke a little and Dumbledore looked like he was ready to give his closing. Then something unexpected happened. One more little piece of paper with its edges burnt. Hermione felt like she might puke. She knew what that must say, Harry could never avoid danger, could he?

The whole room gasped when the paper shot out, Dumbledore's swift hands catching it.

He couldn't seem to believe his eyes.

He said the name once, but not one could hear him. He was saying it to himself in disbelief, Hermione realized. Then he said it louder.

"Granger! Hermione Granger!"

The room exploded around her.

People were outraged, people were confused, Harry looked defensive of her, Ron looked more furious than he'd ever looked.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted, getting the effect he wanted immediately. Hermione sat stock still.

"Ms. Granger, proceed to join the other champions."

"But – it's not possible!" She called out, every eye on her, "I didn't enter."

"Ms. Granger." Dumbledore said again.

"No, but – I didn't enter. I don't want to do this, I'll die, I'll die on the first task! I didn't enter, I would never enter."

The Hufflepuffs, they looked furious.

"Nevertheless, Ms. Granger, go join the other champions."

"But – but -!"

"Go!" He shouted, his voice again reverberated through the hall.

Harry's fingers were clamped so tightly around her arm she had to pry them away to stand.

She hurried down to the front, trying to ignore the stares of every single person in the hall. Her face was paler than porcelain and her fingers felt like ice.

"I – I didn't enter," She said one more time, quietly, yet in the silence of the hall, everyone must have heard it.

Dumbledore fixed her with a cold stare. She stumbled, then scurried to join the champions. At the door, she looked back one more time to the room's hundreds of eyes.

Harry's she couldn't find – they were hidden in his hands.

She pushed through the door, a tear she couldn't hide running down her cheek.

"Bewitched!" She heard Moody cry furiously just before she closed the door, "Fourth year student, couldn't have done it herself-"

"Quiet, Alistor!" Dumbledore shouted as chaos erupted again. With the door closed, she was in silence again. The three pairs of eyes staring at her bore more deeply into her soul than all the ones outside together could.