Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews. I am really happy you guys like the story.
So here's another chapter and I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter
PS: I've just realised I have quite a number of grammatical and spelling errors in the previous chapters. I'll get to them as soon as my laziness evaporates. Many apologies if there are many such annoying errors in this chapter as well.
The steady rhythm of Fleur's breathing helped Hermione to focus her thoughts amongst the sea of her scattered mind. It was a quarter past midnight and the brunette still could not sleep. But it was not due to the soul eaters.
Hermione was still reeling from the events of the previous day. It was a roller coaster of emotions. Facing Harry and Ginny wrecked her nerves and she could feel her shoulders were still rather tense. She was sure she'd lost her friends, but aside from Ginny's mini rant (felt more like a lecture) the whole thing was not too bad. In fact, it gave Hermione confidence to open up more.
And it was all because of Fleur.
Were it not for the blonde's persistence and stubborn attitude of 'I must have it my way', Hermione would never find out about the soul eaters. She'd never mend her relationship with her best friends (well, with Harry and Ginny for the moment at least). She'd never get out of the miserable hole she dug ages ago. She'd never felt happy again.
Hermione kissed Fleur's neck gently, not wanting to wake the sleeping blonde. Laying her head on the blonde's shoulder, Hermione stared at the peaceful face of her lover, smiling as she did so. For the umpteenth time, the brunette thanked the universe for sending Fleur into her life. The blonde had proven she would be by Hermione's side through thick and thin, including the coming ordeal when the sun rose in the morning.
Before they left Grimmauld Place, Ginny demanded access to The Lake. Naturally, that got the redhead and the brunette into a heated argument. Hermione had been adamant that The Lake was hers and hers only, and Fleur was the only person allowed access. The brunette did not want her only refuge, her only safe space, to be in danger of being swamped. Of course, Ginny refused to budge, claiming that she did not want to leave Hermione an option to hide away for weeks and months without any way to barge in and drag the brunette to safety.
Their argument lasted for nearly an hour before Fleur intervened and played the role of mediator-cum-negotiator. To Ginny, at least. To Hermione's exasperation, the blonde just took charge as per usual. And the most irritating part? The brunette could not get angry at Fleur, much as she would like to.
So there she was, counting down the last hours of privacy and seclusion because when morning comes, Hermione would be popping into Grimmauld Place to bring Harry and Ginny to The Lake for breakfast.
She sighed. Only a person in love would allow their loved ones to turn their world upside down. She happened to be that idiot now.
Six more hours to go.
"I'm sorry if my wife is forceful, 'Mione, but you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Harry said quietly, watching his wife rummaging the cupboard across the room.
"Honestly, I'm not keen on this idea Harry but maybe it's time I start to re-open up to my best friends," Hermione shrugged.
"Fleur won't give in, right?"
Hermione sighed. "I don't even know why I let her win all the time. It's like she hypnotises me."
"The great Hermione Granger gets seduced by a beautiful woman. She is a mortal after all. What a surprise."
Hermione swatted his arm. "Prat."
Ginny wandered over to them, finally finding the item she had been looking for. "Sorry for the wait, guys, but I'm ready."
"How can you even misplace your wand, Gin? You sure are getting old," Hermione commented as the walked to the foyer.
"It's thanks to Mister I-Can't-Wait-Let's-Just-Do-It-Now here," Ginny threw her husband a dirty look. "I told him to at least put my wand in a safe place first but no, he just had to do it there and then right after you both left. Did you know that he was doing the – "
"I don't want to know, Gin, I swear I don't want to know," Hermione cut her off, hands covering her delicate ears. "It's bad enough I have terrifying nightmares when I sleep. I don't want my waking moments to be scarred for life as well."
"I'm not sure whether I should be insulted by that or not," remarked Harry. Seeing Ginny's gleeful face, he quickly added, "Though I don't want anyone to know my sex life."
"You both are no fun," the redhead snorted. "Alright missy, time to show us you sex bunk."
"It's not a sex bunk!" Hermione protested. "And no, I will not discuss about my sex life." She grabbed the Potters' hands and, half a turn later, Apparated to The Lake.
The looks of admiration and wonder made Hermione's chest puffed up a little. She knew how they felt – the majestic mountains and hills as backdrop with the gentle breeze that made one instantly felt at home. The tranquil lake with its sparkling light blue waters bordering on being transparent making one just wanted to be drowned by the waters. And the small wooden cabin, as if added as an afterthought, promising adventure and escape from the misery that was life. That was how Hermione felt when she first saw the property – minus the little cabin and jetty, of course.
With a squeal that definitely did not sound like Ginevra Potter nee Weasley, the redhead dragged Hermione to the jetty. Upon reaching the end of the jetty, Ginny released the brunette's hand and fell to her knees, hands deep in the water.
"Where are the little fishies, 'Mione?" Ginny asked excitedly. "Where are they?"
Hermione, who had been struggling to keep up with the athletic witch's run, was flat on the jetty, trying to catch her breath. The run, though short in distance, was far more demanding than when she was running away from the Snatchers.
"No…fish," it took all of the brunette's energy to form words.
"What? No little fishies? What kind of savage are you, 'Mione?" Ginny snorted her disapproval.
As a reply, Hermione just flipped the finger.
"What, is Fleur not enough to satisfy you?" snickered the redhead.
Hermione just groaned.
"I don't know how Fleur find that particular sound sexy but oh well, whatever floats her boat," Ginny said conversationally. She loomed above Hermione who just stared daggers at the redhead and helped the brunette to her feet. "C'mon, 'Mione, Harry's already gone. I think he's inside with Fleur now. Give me a tour!"
Hermione shook her head at her friend's antics. She sometimes forgot how child-like Ginny could become when the redhead got excited. Often, Ginny could rival a child getting a sack full of candies on Christmas. That reminded Hermione that Christmas was not that far away. Perhaps a sack full of candies would be a fantastic gift for the redhead.
"Come on, 'Mione!" Ginny tugged at Hermione's arm, pulling the brunette away from her musings.
"There are no Hippogriffs on fire chasing after us, 'Gin," Hermione sighed.
"But there could be some that are on their way to chase after us," countered the redhead.
Idiotic, meaningless banters with Ginny brought the brunette back to a far happier time, when they were still in Hogwarts. How could this woman still able to push forward with a smile on her face and crass jokes spewing from her mouth? The Weasleys lost a lot, but none of it pulled the redhead back. Hermione decided she'd ask Ginny about it when she had the chance.
Ginny oohed and ah-ed at every nook and corner Hermione showed her. The brunette was slightly embarrassed at having a very ordinary cabin as a house. Maybe it was time to fix up the place. Knowing the redhead, she'd insist on dropping by all the time. And, god forbid (but Hermione would not be surprised if it actually happen) that the redhead come dragging all of their friends. No. An unkempt, extremely ordinarily small cabin would not suffice. It was bad enough that they'd know about the soul killers that were plaguing her. It would be worse if they pitied her living conditions and felt the need to donate things to her. The horror.
"Oh come on, woman, don't be shy with me," Ginny nudged her ribs gently. "Just tell me, I'm dying to know!"
"What about?" Hermione rubbed the injured spot. The redhead needed to learn that not everyone was a Quidditch player and able to take a nudging with the force of a million elephants behind it.
Ginny rolled her eyes and huffed. "You were not even listening, were you? Sex. With Fleur. How good is she?"
Predictably, Hermione blushed. She glanced around. There were only the two of them in Hermione's bedroom. Harry and Fleur must be chatting somewhere else. Harry had an amazingly sharp sixth sense when it came to his wife going to start harassing Hermione with weird questions. Not wanting to take side lest the other got mad at him, the Boy Who Lived would just disappear from the immediate vicinity.
"And why are you so obsessed to know about it, Gin? What the heck is wrong with you?"
"Oh come on, I couldn't be gossiping about your sex life when you were dating my brother. That would be gross! I've always wanted to have stupid girly talk with you, 'Mione, and now that you're not dating my brother, it's my time to shine!"
Hermione sighed. Whenever she regretted not having siblings, those regrets disappeared fast as soon as Ginny came around and asked her never-ending weird questions. If she were ever to have children, it would be merciful to only have one. Hopefully Fleur would agree with her. Wait – it was too soon to even think of having children with Fleur.
Mistaking the nature of Hermione's blush, Ginny insisted, "Was it amazing? Great? Bad? Clingy? Barely any orgasm? Taking too long? Too short?"
Hermione groaned. "Sex is sex, Gin. You know how sex feels like. There you go."
Ginny cocked her head to the side and studied Hermione thoughtfully. "I can't believe you haven't had sex with that smoking morsel yet. You're even a bigger idiot than I thought, 'Mione." Leaning closer, the redhead whispered conspiratorially, "You don't need penis for sex, 'Mione. You can use fingers."
Hermione's red face reddened even further. "It's not about that, Gin! Gah! I can't believe I'm actually discussing this with you."
"Well the faster you tell me, the faster my incessant questioning stops," Ginny advised sagely.
Hermione sighed and walked over to her bed. Sitting on it, she plucked at the random strand of thread of her bedsheet.
"I want it to be special, okay?" she confessed. "I want to do it without a bunch of ghostly creatures watching everything. I'm not into voyeurism of any kind, except maybe watching Fleur pleasuring herself and I can't believe I've just told you that. Well, I want it to be fully me, instead of me plus parasites. Do you get what I mean?"
Ginny sat next to Hermione and placed a sympathising hand on the brunette's shoulder.
"Yes 'Mione, I do get it," the redhead said softly. "Which is why I'm here to help you. I'm not here to judge you or make your life miserable. I know you're not entirely happy with us being in your house, but your happiness doesn't originate from you, 'Mione. Your feelings and emotions are being influenced by those tadpoles."
"Tadpoles?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, they're that pink toad's creatures right? So they're tadpoles."
The brunette giggled.
"As I was saying, this is not the real you. I hope you realise it, 'Mione," Ginny said seriously, all traces of playfulness gone. "Which is why you must not be alone at all. They're in you for far too long that you don't even know what you really want anymore. By having Fleur and the rest of us with you all the time, we can counter their influence on you. I'm sorry if you won't have much privacy, but it's just for the next, oh I dunno, month or two. I promise you this will be over soon, 'Mione." The glint of mischief was back. "And you can finally have sex with that hot chick."
Hermione was not sure whether to curse or thank Harry. During breakfast, he offhandedly told the brunette to prepare a fun indoor game for twelve people for the coming Friday night. He realised his mistake when Hermione just stared at him in silence, not truly computing his words.
"Er didn't Ginny tell you?" he asked carefully, exchanging a glance at his wife, who kept an innocent expression.
"Tell me what?" Hermione's voice was deceptively calm. If Ginny was volunteering Hermione for some weird activity without the brunette's permission, she swore she would strangle the redhead to death.
"That you're having guests this coming Friday, 'Mione dear," Ginny answered sweetly. "A belated housewarming party – can you call it a party if only twelve people attend?"
"Ginny," warned the brunette.
"Plus you need to talk to the rest of your friends and explain to them properly about the whole situation," the redhead added. "Yes Harry and I are going to meet them today right after this, but they'd want to talk about it with you, 'Mione. And also, I bet you'd want us to update you on our little toad hunting party. So, this Friday night."
Hermione groaned. She wanted to bang her head on the table. This was too soon. She had not even redecorated her cabin.
"Who are coming?" Fleur asked, sounding slightly excited. Hermione sighed. If the blonde was in support of this idea, then the brunette lost automatically. Fleur only needed to bat an eye and Hermione would cave in. This was not fair.
"Me, Ginny, the two of you, Ron, Luna, George, Neville, Pansy, Draco, Lavender, and Gabrielle," Harry counted off.
"Draco? Gabrielle?" both Fleur and Hermione asked at the same time.
"His fault – not mine," Ginny sipped her juice, happily throwing the task of defending that decision to her husband.
"Well er," Harry visibly squirmed in his seat, "it's complicated. An accident, I swear. I, uh, went to Pansy's this morning before you came, wanting to ask her to let Ginny skip training for a few weeks. At first I didn't tell her the exact reason, just saying that there's a big sensitive case requiring Ginny's skills but she demanded official letter from the Minister himself. Saying something about Ginny needing to honour her contract including not skipping training without a clear and valid reason, etc. We argued until I finally swore her to secrecy and I told her that you're in trouble and you urgently need help. So Ginny got her leave on the condition that Pansy helps out."
"She is one hell of a crazy persuasive bitch," muttered Ginny darkly. The memories of rigorous training haunted her every moment. "It's a good thing she was a stupid, useless crap when good ol' Voldy was alive."
Sometimes Hermione was not sure whether Ginny was actually genuinely happy to be friends with Pansy or not.
"Well anyway," continued Harry, "I didn't realise we were shouting when we argued, and that Draco was staying over for the night. He and his um, girlfriend, overheard us and demanded to be included to help you out also, 'Mione. I personally think Draco wants to atone for his years of being an ass towards you."
Hermione groaned and massaged the bridge of her nose. Draco Malfoy, of all people, will get involved in the 'toad hunting'.
"And both him and his girlfriend threatened to leak it out to the world that you're in danger if they're not allowed to help," Harry added.
The brunette sighed. "Who is this girlfriend of his? Let me guess – Lavender?"
Harry swallowed and fidgeted. When he answered, he dared not look at Fleur and mumbled.
"We can't hear you, Harry dear," Fleur sighed. "Neither Hermione nor I will get angry at you. We trust your judgment. If you think Draco and his girlfriend are trustworthy enough to be allowed to help even though it's by accident, we trust you. Right, Hermione?"
The brunette nodded. "While I'm not entirely happy about it, but I do trust your judgment Harry."
"Gabrielle."
There was a moment of tensed, shocked silence before Fleur started to exclaim in rapid French, too fast for even Hermione to make out a word aside from the 'mon dieu' at the beginning.
"I don't know anything about that," he answered Hermione's questioning looks.
"Neither do I but that is such an interesting gossip, don't you think?" Ginny commented. "I mean, who'd have guessed those two would end up together? I can already imagine their little devilish offspring: exceedingly gorgeous, with too much money for their own good, and luring pure, innocent souls into their silken sheets."
"Please don't say such crude thing about my unborn nieces and nephews," groaned Fleur. Hermione patted the blonde's back in sympathy. Fleur continued to mutter incomprehensibly in her native tongue.
"And if you're wondering about the rest, well, I owled them early this morning and each of them replied immediately, including Ron," Ginny explained.
So there Hermione was, two hours after the Potters had left, on the brink of having a panic attack, trying to think of a fun activity for twelve adults to reduce awkward silences and uncomfortable pities. Friday was just two days away, and Hermione was not ready in the slightest for it.
"Fleur, why am I focusing on thinking of a stupid game instead of trying to redecorate the house or something?"
The blonde pulled Hermione into her embrace and said gently, "Calm down, Hermione. Your house looks just fine. It is perfect. Don't worry your pretty head about it. They'll be more interested about your life instead of whether the walls' paints are coming off or not."
Fleur had a point. Hermione would not care about Harry's house whenever she visited him – she only wanted to hang out and chat with him, not admiring or criticizing his house.
"It is much more productive for you to find a fun game that all twelve of us can join, while I prepare our dinner menu," continued Fleur.
Hermione wrecked her brains, trying to find inspiration. She refused to have anything Quidditch-related, including Quidditch trivia. Wait – holding a trivia night sounded fun. But she knew everyone would protest. Nobody liked it when Hermione set the trivia questions – they complained those were too difficult for the average human mind to even fathom. Nobody liked it when Hermione was playing either – whoever were not on her team were guaranteed a loss.
What about UNO? Surely that could include twelve people? But Hermione did not like that game. She never won. So UNO was out.
Then an idea formed in her head. What if she modified a pretty popular muggle game and make it wizard-style?
"Fleur! We have to go out!" Hermione jumped from her seat and dragged the surprised blonde out of the house. Moments later, they Disapparated.
"Uh where are we, Hermione?" Fleur did not recognise this part of busy muggle England. She looked cautiously at her surrounding, with cars honking, people walking all around on their phones, and different types of music blaring from different sources.
"The shops," the brunette explained. "I just had this awesome idea. But I need to buy a sample to base it on."
"Okay," Fleur did not understand what Hermione was trying to say but walked beside her girlfriend, following the brunette.
The blonde just watched Hermione with interest and did not say a word until less than ten minutes later, they returned home.
"So... mind telling me what's going on?" Fleur asked, observing an excited Hermione tearing open the plastic cover of a rectangle box, taking out its contents and spreading them all over the living room floor.
"Wizarding Monopoly for twelve. I'm thinking of basing the locations on major English wizarding places like Gringgotts, Hogwarts, the Ministry and other significant historical places. Instead of going to jail, people go to Azkaban."
"Azkaban?" Fleur frowned. Why was Hermione excited about such an insane-sounding game?
"Not the real Azkaban, but the Monopoly Azkaban," explained the brunette. "I'll add more locations to the board than the standard version to fit twelve people. And I'll charm each plot so that whenever someone buys a house, one tiny house will appear by itself. Oh! I think I'll charm the pawns so that they move by themselves. It'll be easier than getting in people's way and it will prevent people crashing into other people's properties."
Fleur chuckled and shook her head. It had been a long time since she saw Hermione that excited. Fleur could not even remember the last time. Was it at Hogwarts? While the blonde still did not understand a word Hermione said, she was happy to see her lover finally had a spark of life in her.
Fleur knelt next to the brunette who was talking to herself and kissed the brunette's forehead gently. "Have fun, sweetheart."
Hermione barely registered the kiss, so focused she was. Ideas after ideas went through her mind. She Accio-ed a parchment and a quill, and started listing all her thoughts and ideas for the Wizarding Monopoly. It had been a long time, too long, since she felt such a rush of excitement and giddiness from planning and thinking.
At first, the gathering felt awkward. Nobody knew what to say to Hermione. They (minus Fleur and the Potters) did not know what to say. It was not until Luna, in her classic way of saying the most outrageous thing, told Hermione that 'Delacour girls are fantastic. Great choice, Hermione' that the ice finally melted. That got the whole room exploded, and Gabrielle admitted for having a casual fling with Luna a few weeks before the latter started dating Ron.
That eased the tension for Hermione, and little by little she felt at ease again amongst her friends (and former enemies). The teasing and banters came, making everyone forgot that there was a serious matter on hand.
After dinner (unlike Ginny, Fleur did not cook random dishes) the mood turned serious. Hermione apologised to everyone for lying and running away. One by one, the others said their apologies as well. When Ron said his heartfelt apology, both him and Hermione burst into tears and Fleur got worried her lover would get another bout of attack. Fortunately, that did not occur. Even Gabrielle said her apologies (for getting involved without invitation and intruding Fleur and Hermione's private lives).
Before they moved on to the war planning and discussion, they had a go at Hermione's Wizarding Monopoly. Nobody was surprised when the game was down to a fierce fight between Draco, George and Pansy. Everybody groaned when Pansy ultimately won – they were rooting for Draco to win, since both George and Pansy ruthlessly bankrupted everybody else. Hermione had never felt happier, seeing how invested everyone was in her version of Monopoly. She had forgotten how it felt to plan for something to the most minute of details that everybody enjoyed. She loved that feeling.
During the war planning, Ginny took charge. She was hell-bent on revenge and dishing out the most painful punishment on one particular Dolores Umbridge. The redhead divided them into groups and gave out missions (Fleur's was the most important – to keep Hermione happy). Hermione was irritated that nobody would back her up to get involved in the hunting and the eventual fight. She did not want to just stay still and wait for news. She wanted to be involved. Alas, nobody would see things from her point of view.
The brunette sulked, unhappy that even Draco got an important mission (as a businessman, he had a vast network of extremely useful contacts): to figure out Umbridge's most likely hidden and illegal properties. With a part-Veela teaming up with him, they planned to seduce and coax information left and right.
Hermione brightened up slightly when Ginny promised to update the brunette at least thrice weekly. Waiting maddened the brunette. She hated waiting and being unable to do anything. But fortunately, she had her beautiful lover to accompany her during the wait. That should lessen the annoyance.