—Fleur de Saison—
Author: Alright, next chapter—Hermione's at the Burrow, going to the World Cup. This chapter I was listening to another song by Emilie Simon called Dame de Lotus, check it out—and remember to review if you like this.
Hermione/Fleur. Sum — Life was hectic. Voldemort was lurking around the proverbial corner and the Triwizard Tournament was making everyone crazy. Hermione just wanted to get through the year alive; not fall in love with the beautiful Fleur Delacour, who she had thought she would never see again.
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#—Down The Rabbit Hole: Chapter 2
Hermione felt like Alice from Wonderland as she appeared in the Weasley's kitchen fireplace—since the French Ministry had suggested it would be an easier and safer way to travel over the ocean than by portkey. The house was filled to the brim with odd trinkets and various magical and muggle gadgets. Two separate sets of eyes where fixed on her as she stepped out of the fireplace, spluttering and coughing with soot all over her face. It was undeniable however, the house had a welcoming sense of warmth—a comfortable atmosphere.
"Harry? Ron?" she blinked for a moment, wiping to charcoal from her left cheek before dropping her trunk and gathering both of them into a friendly embrace. Chrookshanks hissed with annoyance as his cage dropped to the ground. "I've missed you both so much! Oh, where is everyone?"
"Mphh. . . Hermione—!" Hermione let them both go and gave them apologetic looks for her overexcited greeting, she knew that they where teenage boys and not to fond of hugs, but it had been weeks since she had last seen them in person. Flickering her gaze to Crookshanks, she quickly let him out, and suppressed a smile as she watched him lazily lay in a spot of sun shining through one of the Burrows windows.
Hermione glanced at Harry, who straightened his crooked glasses before answering her. "Gin and the twins are out playing a game of Quidditch with their older brothers, Charlie and Bill—their coming with us for the Cup—me and Ron where playing too but we saw the fireplace flair up through the window and came into see what was going on, only to see you step out." Harry grinned, "I thought you were coming by portkey?"
"I was," Hermione said, wiping the rest of her face and neck with the sleeve of her blue sweater. "But the French Ministry said it would be safer for me to come by Floo, seeing as I was travelling overseas. I didn't exactly want to drown somewhere in the middle of ocean." she huffed out a breath, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "Wow, that was really surreal." suddenly she gave Harry her infamous chiding look, "And it's 'Ron and I'."
Before Harry could defend himself, the front door slammed open and Ginny Weasley stalked through, dressed in hand-me-down Quidditch robes and a Cleansweep in her hands. The furious expression on her face didn't diminish in the least when she saw Harry and Ron standing in the middle of the kitchen. "You bloody morons! You just left me out there to be completely hammered! I ought to—Hermione?"
"Hi Ginny," Hermione smiled at her, "How's your summer been?"
"Horrible," the only female sibling in the Weasley brood dropped into a chair, throwing her hands into the air. "The house has been ransacked by males and their over inflated ego's. I swear, it's a miracle I'm not locked up in Azkaban for murder by now. They've been driving me up the wall, and it's only gotten worse since Bill and Charlie have gotten here. Everything is some stupid bloody competition!"
Hermione hid her amusement by holding a hand over her mouth as Ginny's sharp eyes honed in on Ron and Harry; who were trying to discreetly shuffle out of the room and away from the redheads fiery wrath. "And where do you think you two are going? I'm nowhere near finished with you! Oi, come back here!" the three sprinted out of the kitchen, various expressions of fear and fury on their faces.
Letting out a small laugh, Hermione herself collapsed into one of the kitchen tables rickety looking dining chairs while pulling her cellphone out of her pocket. Smiling, pressed the 'OK' button to view her newest text.
Hey, was your flight to England okay? I hope you didn't get scared, otherwise I would feel guilty for not being there to protect you. Are you at your friends home yet? Or are you still travelling? —Fleur
Hermione looked out through the widow, her gaze landing on an enraged Ginny trying to beat Ron with the shaft of her broom.
Hi, no of course I didn't get scared. I'm too stubborn for that, you know ;). Yeah, I am at the Weasley's. It's chaos, but the good chaos, I mean. I like it here—it's very homey and alive, I guess. How is your family? Is Gabrielle still up to no good? —Hermione.
The cell vibrated a few seconds later when Fleur replied.
We are visiting grandmère at the moment, it's nice here—the surrounding forests and rivers are lovely to go swimming in during the summer. Oui, Gabby is as mischievous as ever—working to put maman into an early grave like usual. Papa is working again, his holidays ended yesterday. I'm missing you, everything feels so different without you around, even though we were only together for a few weeks. —Fleur
Hermione blushed, trying not to smile too widely.
I know what you mean. I miss you too. . . —Hermione
"Hey, what's that?" Hermione jolted as Ron's voice came from behind her, and she tried not to look guilty as she attempted to surreptitiously slip the device back into her pocket. Ron however, with rare observational skills saw this and snatched the phone from her hands and began fiddling with it.
Standing up, Hermione tried to get it back, but Ron had grown substantially over the holidays and now towered over her, and his arms where at least three inches longer. "Ronald, if you don't give that back to me right now I'll tell your mother about how you broke your grandfathers antique watch last year. . ." she threatened, glaring at him and crossing her arms.
With slumped shoulders and a sulky expression, Ron handed the cell back. "That was low, 'Mione." he almost pouted, "Can you at least tell me what is, then? I've never seen anything like it before." he peered curiously at the small silver muggle invention she was now holding.
"It's called a cellphone. Muggles use them to communicate, like using the Floo or a patronus—they use theses things called 'satellites' to send messages and transmit sound waves from phone to phone." her voice took a scholarly edge, and predictably Ron lost interest when he realised when it was just useful for communicating.
"Right. . ." Ron nodded in an understanding way, acting as though he knew what she was talking about. "Who were you sending messages to, then?" he questioned, frowning at her when she blushed.
"Just a muggle friend. Don't worry about it, okay?" Hermione picked up her trunk, speaking curtly. Ron took the obvious hint and backed off a little. "Am I sleeping in Ginny's room like last year?"
Ron shrugged, "Yeah. I think that's what mum said. Here, I'll show you where it is. Watch out for Percy's room. He's been a right prat ever since he got a job at the Ministry. I don't want to hear him go into another spiel about us distracting him from his 'cauldron bottoms'." Hermione followed after the grumbling boy and parted ways with him when they reached Ginny's bedroom.
The rest of the afternoon passed lazily. Hermione spent sometime outside watching the others playing Quidditch, and an odd game where they levitated tables and tried to knock their opponents table out of the air to win. That ended, however, when Percy began screaming out of his bedroom window for them to 'keep it down'. Molly Weasley made an appearance briefly, before hustling them all into the kitchen for dinner. Arthur Weasley sat at the table calmly—easily ignoring the mayhem surrounding him and reading the Daily Prophet.
"Fred, George!" Molly bellowed, as she again picked up one of their fake wands. "How many time's have I told you not to leave these things lying around! This is the sixth time, and I'm reaching my wits end. If you keep this up, you wont be going to the World Cup, I'm telling you now!"
The twins traded barbs with their mother over the dining table, as the rest of the men chatted excitedly about who they thought would win the World Cup, eventually breaking out into arguments with Ginny joining into at random intervals. Hermione texted Fleur conspicuously underneath the table, and Harry was quiet as he ate his food and occasionally made a remark concerning the team players he liked.
Soon enough, everyone was shuffling off to bed; on Molly's insistence. Ginny fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from her day of Quidditch and games, while Hermione had a harder time surrendering to slumber. After a short conversation with Fleur, and a smile on her face; she somehow managed to drift off.
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The next morning was a shambles, teenagers rushing around while Molly yelled for them to be careful not to knock things down. Ron and Harry barely managed to get up in time to have breakfast.
Hermione remembered the gifts she had brought for them both, and when they had been received, the boys had then spent fifteen minute fawning over them; making them all even more tardy. But somehow, everyone managed to have their things ready by the designated leaving time. Arthur was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, eager to get going.
Hermione yawned, leaning against Ginny slightly as the two of the lagged behind, still weary and tired from waking up so early. "I thought he said it was only a short walk? It feels like we've been walking for ages."
"I don't know." Ginny shrugged, yawning as well. "Hey, we're meeting the Diggory's. I wonder if Cedric has gotten more handsome over the break. I doubt he could have, he was already gorgeous in the first place."
Now standing on her own, Hermione looked away; feeling suddenly uncomfortable at the mention of boys. Shrugging herself, she glanced at Ginny disinterestedly. "He's alright, I guess."
"Alright?" Ginny gave her a strange look. "You must have some problems with your eyesight, Hermione. He is probably the best looking bloke at Hogwarts. If you don't find him good-looking, who do you?"
"I dunno. I'm not that interested. Can we just drop it, Gin?" Hermione sighed, telling herself not to scowl. She didn't know why she was getting annoyed, but she just wanted to stop talking about boys for once. It wasn't like they world revolved around them.
"If that's what you want. . ." Ginny continued to watch Hermione oddly, looking almost inquisitive.
Hermione smiled at her, grateful that the younger redhead didn't pry. A loud, cheerful shout from up ahead alerted them to the fact that they had finally run into the Diggory's. "This is Amos Diggory everyone," Arthur introduced the older man, with dark stringy-hair and glasses, who was smiling warmly. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. This his son Cedric, I believe you all know him?"
Hermione glanced at the tall boy with distinctive features standing beside his slightly shorter father, smiling warmly like the man he was adjacent to. She recognised him as the Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and a prefect as well. She repected him for being a good student, but had never really bothered being smitten with his pretty-boy looks like most other girls were.
"Hi," Cedric rubbed the back of his head, blushing lightly at all the attention. Hermione rolled her eyes discreetly when she heard Ginny sigh in admiration next to her. Everyone said hi back, except Fred and George, who instead nodded at him.
"Wasn't a long walk, I hope." Amo's began chatting amicably with Arthur, and like most, gasped when it was made known who Harry was. After a little prideful rambling about Cedric's accomplishments, they all finally got ready to use to portkey; everyone only just managing to fit their fingers on the ratty old boot.
"Three. . . two. . ." Arthur counted down, one eye fixed on his watch. ". . . one!"
It was a surreal feeling—Hermione felt as though there was something tugging her from the inside of her stomach, behind her naval while the world around them spun and warped. After a few seconds of the disconcerting feeling, Arthur was yelling for them all to let go, and they did so—only to fall heavily onto the grass below, as Cedric, Arthur and Amos landed on their feet with a little more grace, smiling in amusement at everyone else who was getting up painfully from the ground.
After a little trouble finding their camp sight and setting up their two tents—one for the girls, and the other for the boys—they finally where inside. Hermione held in her gasp as she looked around. From outside, the tent looked as though it would fit three people at most—but like most magically adjusted objects, inside it was expanded to the size of a three bedroom flat, completely furnished with a bathroom and kitchen as well.
"We'll need a bit of water," Arthur peered into the old and dusty kettle in the kitchen. Looking at Ron, he instructed, "Why don't you, Harry and Hermione go get some water for us?" the balding redhead handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans. "There rest of us will find some wood, and we'll camp like I've seen the muggles do."
"What?" Ron looked at his father in disbelief, "But we've got an oven, why do we have to—"
"Anti-muggle security, Ron!" Arthur cut him off, face shining with eagerness as he spoke. "Muggles cook with camp-fires. I've seen them. Now, go!"
"Damn muggles and their camp-fires," Ron was muttering irritably, scowling down at the kettle hanging limply in his hand. Hermione rolled her eyes behind him as the three of them continued to walk through the camp—Harry holding the map they have been given and instructing them where to go to find the water tap.
"Let your father have his fun," Hermione scolded, when Ron kicked at the ground in anger. "It's not often he gets to do things like this, and you know he loves anything muggle. Getting water isn't going to kill you."
"Whatever." Ron mumbled, going quiet. Hermione glanced around then, in silent awe as the mist that had been hovering around began to clear and the sheer amount of witches and wizards attending became visible. She had known there where other countries with magical people, but to see so many at the same time was almost overwhelming.
She was about to look over at Harry to ask again for directions, when a flash of familiar jonquil-coloured hair glinted in the distance. Narrowing her eyes to see better, and stepping forward slightly—suddenly the person walked around a tent and out of sight. Shaking her head, Hermione chided herself and quickly jogged forward to catch up with her friends.
When they arrived back at their tents, Hermione quickly retired to her and Ginny's shared one and took out her phone, reading another message she had received from Fleur.
What is ma chérie doing? I am painfully bored. My parents have dragged us to a big sporting event in which I have no interest in, and have decided for me to watch Gabrielle—who is being mischievous and running off any chance she gets. I fear I'm going to go grey prematurely. —Fleur
Hermione flopped down onto her temporary bed and began to text back.
Hmm, that's odd. I'm at a big sports event as well. Anyway, it's a bit hard to be bored with so many people here. Ginny—my friends younger sister—has been keeping me company while Harry and Ron get talking about sports. Most of their family is with us as well. They are all trying to cook over a camp fire at the moment, and I'm worried we're all going to end up sick with food poisoning. —Hermione
The cell buzzed against her stomach as Fleur replied.
Very odd. Ginny you say? You haven't found a replacement for me already have you? Ah, you are moving on without me! Shall I find another friend as well? To make us even of course ;). —Fleur
Hermione pinched her thigh to distract herself from the surge of jealousy she felt of anyone having else being as close to Fleur as she was. It was an irrational feeling, and she was sure most friends weren't supposed to feel that way. But she wouldn't tread in such dangerous thoughts. She wasn't like that. Fleur wasn't anything more than a friend to her, was she?
No, no of course not. Nothing more, right? Hermione knew she wasn't a—a. . .
"Oi, 'Mione! We're leaving. If you don't hurry up we'll go without you!" Ron bellowed, peeking his head inside the tent.
"Okay, I'm coming!" she yelled, back standing up. Typing a quick text to Fleur, she sent it, before turning off her cell and following Ron outside.
No, I could never replace you. I hope you don't replace me either. Your my best friend, even though I haven't known you long. Hey, I've go to go, but I'll talk to you later okay? Love you, xx—Hermione
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Note: Hogwarts, next stop! They won't be able to talk there, seeing as electrical devices don't work as Hogwarts, so communication will be stopped, for the time being—seeing as they can't send owls to each other. Hermione thinks Fleur is a muggle, and Fleur thinks Hermione's a muggle xD. Haha. Anyway, thanks for the lovely reviews—I hope this chapter was satisfactory.