Author: Lash_Larue

Title: "Change"

Pairing:Ginny/Hermione– Pansy/Fleur

Rating: Adult

Summary: Hermione expands her bond with Tris, Bill finishes his expedition

Warnings: Complicated relationships, sexual references, character death

Word Count: 1665

Disclaimer: These characters belong to JK Rowling

The Hunters Part 33

"Change"

"Victoire simply insisted that we… oh!" Apolline saw her granddaughter and fell silent.

"Hello, Grandmother, I am happy to see you," the young queen greeted her.

"'Tris!" exclaimed Victoire, and she ran up to Gwen and seized her sister's foot in her hand. "You're here!"

"How does she know her name?" Hermione asked.

"She is my sister, why would she not know my name?"

"I heard you calling," Queen Hera said as she entered the room.

"Yes, I am here, and we must greet the flock before the Blessed Hour passes, but you all must see this first. Pansy, please come to me." The silver eyes met the dark ones, and a silent exchange occurred. A tiny hand reached out and touched Pansy's cheek, and fire blossomed from the infant queen's palm. The smell of burned flesh filled the room. Pansy, however, did not flinch.

The fire faded, and Pansy kissed the small hand and turned to face them, the livid red handprint on her cheek was fading as the room full of people watched.

"You are the Queen's Other," Palustris Regina declared, and Hera inclined her head to Pansy.

"Huh?" Ginny asked.

"The young queen has made Pansy a privileged member of the flock," Apolline said reverently, "this has never before occurred. Pansy is second only to the queen in stature; any member of the flock would die for her."

"The burn…" Hermione began.

"Has already healed, none but flock members may see it, but to them it represents a holy bond," Fleur's grandmother answered.

"I can still kind of see it," Ginny demurred.

"You too are a part of us now, Ginevra, and Hermione as well," Apolline told her.

"Thank you all, but now I must see the flock, and be seen. I hope that some of you will tell me of this time when I am older, for soon I shall truly be an infant. I rely on you all to teach me anew that which I must soon forget. Victoire, my big sister, I shall need your help."

"Sure Tris," Victoire told her, "I love you."

"And I love you, my sister. Mother, can you introduce me to the flock?"

"Yes, my child, with pride and great joy," Fleur assured her.

xxxx

"Palustris? Odd sort of name, don't you think, Molly?" Arthur asked upon reading the letter.

"Yes, well, I suppose it's a very queenly name, though. Victoire calls her Tris, so I think that we can too."

"Tris it is," Arthur agreed, "it's too bad Bill couldn't make it back in time, but Fleur and the baby are well, and that's the most important thing. So this Sunday at Shell Cottage, then?"

"Yes, the girls will all be back and we can go and meet the baby. What sort of gift does one get for an infant queen?" Molly wondered.

"There's always Muriel's tiara, I suppose…"

xxxx

"Here you go lads!" Bill said as he handed cigars around after the evening meal. While not as bad as he had feared, "dinner" seemed too kind a description of the food they had at the end of the day.

"Thanks Bill, mother and child doing well I hope?" Stevens asked.

"Fine as frog's hair, thanks," Bill told him.

"You'll be with them before you know it," Richardson assured him, "we'll have this last room broken by tomorrow evening, and then it's just the clean-up."

xxxx

"Didn't it hurt?" Ginny asked Pansy as she traced her fingers over the handprint on her cheek.

"Yes, but it was worth it. It means she's mine, in a way, a part of me."

"Did you know it was going to happen?"

"No, I'd read about the Queen's Other, but didn't really pay that much attention since there had never been one. Tris asked me before she did it though, it does put me under a family obligation to the flock, it's not all one way. It's nice to belong to something," Pansy admitted.

"Hermione is staying with Fleur and the baby tonight. I think she's been researching lactation spells," Ginny said with a grin on her face.

"Lucky baby, between Fleur and Hermione she's got two world-class dairies."

"You know, Gwen did say that above the waist was okay, didn't she?" Ginny asked casually.

"Why, Miss Weasley, whatever do you mean?" Pansy questioned, batting her eyelids outrageously.

"Let's go to bed and I'll show you."

xxxx

"Fleur, are you sure that you don't mind me trying this?" Hermione asked her. "I mean, I don't want to interfere with the bonding, or anything."

"She is your child too, Hermione, why should you not feed her if you want to? And believe me, it will be a relief not to have to get up absolutely every time she gets hungry. I should warn you that it gets quite uncomfortable when you're full and the baby isn't hungry, though."

"I'm not even sure I really needed the spell. It has happened among muggles that a woman started lactating to feed a child when she had not given birth herself," Hermione informed her.

"I should also mention that the strength of the suckling is astounding, and if you are not in fact producing milk that it can be very painful, as it is when the milk does not let down soon enough. She has eaten enough to take the edge off her hunger now; do you want to try it?" Fleur offered.

"Yes please," Hermione said, and she cradled Tris in her arms and held the baby to her breast. Tris rooted around eagerly, found the nipple, and latched on. "Oh," Hermione said softly, "that's really quite an amazing feeling…"

xxxx

"God, Ginny, how did you do that to me with your eyelashes?" Pansy panted.

"Dedication," Ginny replied as she rolled Pansy onto her stomach and began to rub her back lightly, "feel free to go to sleep, I'm happy just touching you tonight."

"I never imagined that something so delicate could be so exciting," Pansy admitted.

"It's not just the touch, it's the feelings behind it," Ginny told her.

Pansy drifted into sleep on a warm, freckled, cloud.

"Life was never like this," she thought as she faded out.

"I love you..."

xxxx

"Bill will be home soon," Ginny mentioned to Hermione as they lay together in their bed at Shell Cottage.

"Fleur is looking forward to it," Hermione added.

"Things are going to change."

"They certainly are, and I'm not sure how I'll handle it, frankly," Hermione admitted.

"Me either. I mean, it might be nice to have our own place, but I feel at home here."

"Yes, and things really will change. Bill and Fleur said that our relationship with her can continue, but it can't be the same. It's just not possible."

"Well, I'm sure neither of them will mind us taking the kids now and again. Hell, you can even feed Tris," Ginny pointed out.

"Are you sure you won't try it? It's quite an experience."

"No thanks, practice starts up again soon. I don't want to be leaking through my Quidditch outfit. That might drive Gwenog over the edge."

"She does like boobs, doesn't she?" Hermione commented.

"I guess we can still hang out with Pansy. Do you and she really get along okay? I haven't noticed you two taking much alone time."

"It's funny," Hermione explained, "we really do get along well. I like her and trust her, I even admire her. And we are attracted to each other, it's just that if I'm not with you, it's Fleur who's on my mind. And Pansy hasn't exactly been tracking me down."

"I get that. I love Fleur, and I love sex with her as long as you're part of it, but for me I guess if you aren't involved, it's Pansy. I'm in love with her, and I can't begin to tell you how strange that still feels," Ginny said, shaking her head slowly.

"We knew going in it was going to be complicated."

"We did, but I don't think we had any real idea just how much things would change. But I do still love you, Hermione."

"I love you too Gin, more than ever."

"But it's different somehow, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

xxxx

"What the fuck is going to happen to me?" Pansy wondered as she floated face-down in her pool.

xxxx

"That's the lot," Bill said in satisfaction, "there is no sign this thing was ever opened."

"Let's get the hell out, then," Richardson urged, "you've got that new baby to see!"

"We follow procedure," Bill cautioned, "don't want to cock things up now. Right, let's open the port for the birds, and get these messages off." Bill and his assistant waved their wands and a shimmer appeared in the wards above them.

"Here goes the last bit of the inventory and report," Richardson said as he loosed his owl.

"Good, the last bit of treasure went into secure storage yesterday. You and Smithers and I will verify it all starting Monday."

"It's going to take a while," Richardson pointed out.

"It sucks to be rich," Bill admitted. "Now then, I'll just send a note to let Fleur know when to expect me." He released the owl that he had acquired just for this purpose, and the bird whisked out of sight.

"Now to drop the wards and the muggle shielding…"

The desert air shimmered, and the muted hum they had been hearing the last months vanished, leaving them in the silence of the night desert.

"Shall we go?" Richardson asked.

"Indubitably," Bill answered, and they headed for the abandoned muggle vehicle that was serving as their portkey, along with the few remaining team members.

"It will be good to be home," one of them said.

"Too right," said another.

"Thirty seconds," Bill advised, "get a hand on the portkey." Bill reached out and touched the rusty hulk.

The night disappeared in a sheet of flame.