"Where are we 'ermione?"
She looked around, the wind blowing gently, but persistently over them. In the near distance she could see large wind turbines turning lazily in the breeze. Hermione just entangled their fingers together, tugging her up the sand dune. Fleur glanced at their fingers mixed together, heart skipping a beat, grinning widely before allowing herself to be tugged up. She laughed as her feet sank repeatedly in the sand as she made her way up, breathing heavily when she finally reached the top. She looked out, seeing a dull sandy beach, a few people trying to catch the last of the day's light walking along with their dogs and lots of people staring out into the blue-grey sea.
"I 'ave no idea where we are," she remarked, hoping something would give her a clue as to where they were.
"Crosby beach," replied Hermione smiling, as she planted a light kiss on Fleur's cheek. Fleur smiled widely, enjoying the display of affection.
"I 'ave no idea where Crosby beach is, I don't think I 'ave ever 'eard of it."
"It's somewhere I like to come when I need to think, those fellows make good silent companions," she nodded towards the figures staring out into the sea. Fleur frowned, not understanding, squinting in order to see the figures better. And then she noticed that all the people were staring silently at the water, not moving even slightly, and the frown on her face deepened as she understood even less.
"They're statues," Hermione chuckled, enjoying the look of confusion on Fleur's face. "It's an art installation. Come on, we'll get you a close up with them," she grinned, pulling Fleur down the sand dune, both laughing as they ran down the dune, trying their best not to fall until a hidden branch rolled under Hermione's foot and she fell with a shriek, pulling Fleur down with her, both laughing as they rolled to a halt.
"Merci for taking me down with you, I needed the rest," panted Fleur drolly as she lifted her head to look at Hermione, before resting it back down on the sand, as she caught her breath.
"You're very welcome," Hermione replied dryly, as she pulled herself closer to the blonde, not thinking about what she was doing, brushing the blonde hair from Fleur's face. And at the same moment, both became aware of how close their faces were. Blue eyes never left her own as she lowered her head until she felt Fleur's breath against her lips.
"Hello," she whispered, smiling.
"Bonjour," came the soft reply, her heart tightening at what she saw in Fleur's eyes. She saw the grey flecked eyes flicker down to her lips, drawing her own eyes to Fleur's lips. The sight of Fleur unconsciously licking her lips sent Hermione's heart racing. It was as though the air around them had suddenly stilled, the sounds of the sea ceased, the seagulls were silent, all that either could hear was the sound of each other's breathing. And feel their breath on their lips.
At an almost painstakingly slow pace, Hermione slowly closed the gap between their lips, lightly pressing their lips together, every nerve ending alive, feeling the hairs on her body stand on end at the feel of those soft lips against her own. Fleur entangled her fingers in the brunette's hair, pulling the brunette's face closer, gradually deepening the kiss, both feeling the other smile into the kiss. It was a kiss that was so familiar, a kiss that both had spent endless nights remembering, dreaming about, yet it almost felt new, different. The softness of Hermione's lips, the taste of her lipstick, the smooth locks of her hair beneath her hand, Fleur couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, pulling apart when they finally conceded the need for oxygen, parting only centimetres, their foreheads pressed against one another's. Fleur's hand remained entangled in her hair, preventing her from moving away completely, and they just paused, lost in each other's gazes.
"Tu es vraiment belle," murmured Fleur.
"No, you're the beautiful one. You are so, so beautiful Fleur," whispered the younger woman as she felt herself fall in love all over again, the painful clenching of the heart, the tightening of the gut, and she felt the weight of regret on her shoulders, all those lost moments, all that lost time.
"I'm so sorry Fleur, all the time that we-"
"Stop. What 'as passed 'as passed. We have the present, and that's all I need for now, mon coeur. You…just having you here with me, knowing that I can just reach out and touch you, it is enough. You don't know how much it means to me, how much I needed it. Come, you said you would introduce me to your friends," she said as she stood up, brushing sand from her clothes. She proffered her hand to Hermione, who hesitated briefly before taking the hand.
"I do understand, that's why I regret-"
"Non. No more regrets 'ermione," she said quietly, tugging the brunette towards her for a breathtaking, lingering kiss that spoke volumes, both eventually pulling away with small smiles on their faces.
"Now Professor Granger, did you only bring me here to kiss you because if it is, we could always do it in more comfortable, and more private, surroundings," she teased, flashing a pearly grin.
"Well, I wouldn't want to say no to more kisses," Hermione flirted in return, running her finger slowly from Fleur's collarbone to the dip between her breasts, and Fleur felt her mouth run dry and her heart pounding, "but we agreed to take this slowly, to do this properly and I don't think somewhere more comfortable and private would help us do that," smirked Hermione as she placed another drawn out kiss on Fleur's lips before tugging on the dazed blonde's hand, nodding at the nearest statue.
"You said that this is an art exhibit?" asked Fleur as she peered at the life size iron man, her head tilted slightly to the side, half expecting him to make a curt remark.
"Mmm hmm. The artist's has a couple of famous pieces and this is one of them. He won't attack you, you know?" she grinned, seeing that Fleur almost wary of the statue.
"Oui…it was just I was thinking…well…stupid thoughts…"replied Fleur, an embarrassed smile on her face.
"I'd like to hear your stupid thoughts if you want to share them," Hermione said as she rested her head on the figures arm, a silly smile on her face, making Fleur laugh.
"Well when I was travelling, I went to watch a…movie…film….is there a difference?"
"They both mean the same thing, but I think the term movie has a slightly more American feel to it, but they're both used on both continents."
"Ah ok. Well, I was watching a film and there were lots of these statues in them, but they were alive and formed an army. So I was just thinking what spells we would use to stop them if all of these statues on this beach came alive and tried to attack us, would they actually be live beings or would they just be controlled by another wizard and 'ow thick their armour is and what would their purpose be…"rushed an embarrassed Fleur.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, biting her bottom lip trying not to laugh.
"So, what you're thinking about is battle tactics, whilst I try to take you out a romantic date? Very apt I suppose, after everything," said Hermione, trying hard not to let the laughter escape from her.
"Well you did insist on 'earing about what I was thinking about," muttered Fleur, a small pout on her lowered face, her cheeks flaming.
"Professor Delacour, are you pouting?" grinned the brunette, eyes widening slightly in surprise.
"Non," the denial pointless as her face betrayed her.
"Well I think it's very sweet of you to think of the best way to help us escape if they did suddenly did come alive and tried to attack us," Hermione gently teased, glad to see the corner of Fleur's mouth twitching as she tried not to smile. "I'll share my own tactics with you shall I, so that we'll be fully prepared? If they were robots, I'd try to find a way to short circuit them en masse, if they were controlled by another wizard or witch, well obviously stopping them would be the only way and as for if they suddenly became live beings…well…maybe I'd just try to change them back into molten iron, or perhaps we could just utilise that devastatingly enchanting personality of yours and talk our way out of danger."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Fleur stated, unable to stop her smile.
"Perhaps not, but it made you smile," countered the brunette.
"And perhaps I am simply smiling at the thought that you'll have to make it up to me in some way," the blonde smirked as she grabbed hold of Hermione's belt loop, pulling her towards her. Seeing Hermione's breathing suddenly become shallow, she smirked as leaned over to her ear, her voice low with arousal. "And I can think of a lot of…fun ways that you can make it up to me," she teased, her fingers slowly running up Hermione's flat stomach, fingers dragging the material of her top upward.
Hermione pulled away weakly, needing to create space between their bodies despite her body's protests, rolling her eyes at the smirk that adorned Fleur's face.
"Come on Professor, let's go collect some firewood, it may distract you from those thoughts I know you're having," said Hermione as she tried to pull herself together. Fleur laughed as she started walking towards a cluster of trees.
"I think that it may be you who needs distracting from those thoughts."
With the wall of the walkway against their back and a fire in front of them, they sat next to each other, their shoulders and knees bumping, not noticing the rapidly fading sunlight, too engrossed in each other.
"'ow many of those statues are there on this beach?" asked Fleur, looking around, seeing the iron men in various in varying degrees of submersion.
"Hmmm…I'm not sure, about a hundred or so I think. But it depends on what time of the day you're here at as to how many you can see. I mean, right now, quite a few have been completely submerged by the sea and lots more are their way."
"'ow did you even get to know about this place?"
A soft smile graced Hermione's face and when she spoke, her voice quietly wistful.
"My dad is a huge Beatle's fan – they're a very famous muggle band – and one summer he decided that he would make a pilgrimage to Liverpool, which is where the band originated from, and we would spend a few days there before heading the to the Peak District for a couple of weeks. Anyway, we drove up and managed to get completely and utterly lost and somehow ended up here, but like every other time we got lost, because apparently none of us can navigate a map properly, but we just enjoyed where it took us! So we spent a few hours here just enjoying the place, had some ice cream, took photos and had lunch. My dad thought that the iron men were looking out into the water, waiting for someone, something to return, protecting this land, and my mum thought they were looking out into the horizon, searching for new lands, adventure."
"And what do you think?"
"A little bit of both to be honest. I think that they're waiting, hoping for something, but also wondering if it may be better to just leave, to go somewhere completely new and start again."
Fleur reached over, taking a hand in between her own.
"What did the artist say about it?"
Hermione chuckled, the sound lightening the atmosphere slightly.
"I read something about it being about the ebb and flow of life, about the ravages of the natural elements on a person, or some other similar deep, meaningful lengthy explanation. I'm just not deep enough to understand I suppose, but I do love his work," she sighed, eyes fixed on the dark water. They were both silent for a minute, both thinking about Hermione's family. Seeing Hermione's thoughts causing her to frown, Fleur thought of a topic to try and avert her thoughts.
"Madame Maxime told me that 'agrid was planning a trip to France over Christmas, did he mention it to you?"
"No, he's never said a word about her. I didn't realise that they were still together," replied Hermione distractedly as she interlinked their fingers together, her thumb running slow circles on her skin.
"I don't know if they are together, or if they are just good friends, but she seemed excited in her letter. She wanted to know if he had gained or lost weight, I think she wants to get him some kind of clothing for his Christmas gift", she murmured, quickly losing interest in the conversation as all her attention became focused on the two inches of skin that Hermione's thumb was stroking.
Nothing could have stopped her from turning her head towards Hermione's and capturing those lips with her own; she felt those lips rhythmically move against her own, and somehow she found the younger woman's body pressed against hers, her arm tightly wrapped around her waist. She granted instant access the moment she felt Hermione's tongue running along her lips and she moaned enjoying the taste of the brunette, feeling the tongue leisurely run along her own, eliciting a moan from Hermione as she sucked on her tongue. She broke away gasping as she felt Hermione run her hand up her jean clad inner thigh, stopping the hand's travels with her own. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she felt Hermione nibbling and sucking on her ear lobe, the hand on her thigh squeezing and stroking. With willpower she didn't realise she possessed, she gently pushed Hermione away regretting it the instant she saw Hermione's half lidded dark eyes, swollen lips and flushed face.
"We said…properly…"Fleur shrugged, struggling to form a sentence as she watched Hermione lick her lips and push back her tousled hair, an embarrassed smile on her face.
"I know, I know, it's just so…"
"Hard. I know." Both of them continue to stare at each other as they got their breath back.
"Food!" exclaimed Hermione, making Fleur jump, her voice sounding extra loud in the dark.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just meant I have food," she mumbled, more to keep herself distracted as she searched in her bag. She pulled out a vacuum flask, two mugs and a loaf of fresh bread; quickly looking around her to make sure no one was watching, she tapped the flask with her wand to heat up the soup before pouring out the steaming liquid into the mugs.
"Here you go, our starter of chicken and autumn vegetable soup, with a side of bread," she said, passing a mug to Fleur.
"It smells delicious, thank you," the Frenchwoman smiled, cradling the mug in both hands, enjoying the heat it provided. An enticing smell emanated from the mug and she placed it down carefully on the sand, tearing a piece of bread from the loaf. She dipped the bread into the soup and then took a bite, surprised at how good the soup was.
"It is very tasty, did you make it?"
Hermione blushed at the compliment, pleased with the response.
"Thanks. I did make it, but I just had a recipe and the house elves kept an eye on me to make sure I didn't lose a finger."
"Well I am glad that you managed to make a very tasty soup without having to sacrifice a finger," she teased, taking another sip of the soup. "So whilst you know that I do cook sometimes, do you cook?"
Hermione laughed, shaking her head.
"Nope, I'm usually pretty hopeless at anything that doesn't involve toasting bread." She looked around exaggeratedly, lowering her voice as she crooked her finger at Fleur. "Do you want to know a secret?"
Fleur grinned as she nodded, enjoying the brunette's playful side.
"I'd read that this recipe was foolproof, which was the only reason I made it. Otherwise I'd worry about both of us, but safety still isn't guaranteed," she whispered melodramatically, lifting her eyebrows comically.
"Well in that case I applaud your recipe, and I will congratulate you tomorrow if I survive the night," giggled Fleur.
"Do you think you can face the very sophisticated main dish?"
"Oui. Although after you said you can only make toast, I'm worried as we've already had bread," the Frenchwoman teased, unable to pull her vision away from the sparkling brown eyes.
"Well I have to say that the house elves helped me with it, they walked me through it and I just tried to copy them, but unfortunately I don't have even an ounce of their talent, so apologies in advance for their presentation," Hermione blushed, suddenly wishing that she'd let the house elves make them. Using her body to shield the food from Fleur's vision, she heated the food before passing Fleur a plate, biting on her bottom lip in embarrassment.
Fleur stared at the misshapen semicircle of pastry, looking at Hermione in confusion.
"It's a Cornish pasty," she said weakly, answering Fleur's silent question.
"Ermmm…is it meant to be so irregular looking?" she asked, trying not to laugh at the brunette's expression.
"No, I was trying to crimp the edge to give it the classic look, but well…I'm not sure what happened. I'm sorry, you deserve a proper dinner after the one you made me-"
"I love that you did this for me and I'm sure that it tastes good 'ermione, besides, I rather like the way it looks…very…rustic," she said softly.
Hermione gave a short laugh, grateful for the attempt to make her feel better.
"Rustic…more like made by a child, but thank you."
"Come, we 'aven't even tried it yet, I'm sure that it is delicious, you managed to make lovely soup, so I 'ave faith in you yet…besides…if not, you'll always 'ave me to make sure you don't go 'ungry," smiled Fleur as she gave the brunette a sidelong glance.
Hermione froze for a second, wondering if the blonde knew what she was implying. Catching the glance, she held her eyes with her own; even in the flickering firelight, she could see the stormy calm in those blue eyes. And she knew that Fleur was well aware of what she implying, even if neither would be able to say it out loud just yet, neither willing to expose their vulnerabilities.
"Thank you in advance for never letting me starve to death, then," she replied quietly, as she maintained the gaze, her eyes promising everything.
Fleur tore her eyes away as she felt the sting of tears, as it dawned on her that Hermione had meant what she had said the other night. The thought of them being together was no longer a possibility, but something tangible. She had been so afraid that it wasn't real, that something would snatch her away again, that Hermione would change her mind, but that look in her eyes, they offered her the world. They offered her a future. And finally she could breathe.
She took a bite of the pasty to trying to disguise the fact that she was on the verge of tears, and was pleasantly surprised at the flavour. The pastry was too thick in places, but with the warm juices of the beef filling and the soft vegetables, it was delicious in its simplicity. And the knowledge that Hermione had made it especially for her made it taste that much better.
"C'est bonne!" she exclaimed, surprise evident in her voice.
Hermione looked her in surprise before taking a bite herself, relief flooding her face as she tasted it.
"I'm glad it's palatable at least, I wouldn't like you to have no energy from lack of food in case the iron men decide to attack," she smirked, enjoying the indignant look on Fleur's face, who couldn't reply with a mouthful of food.
Swallowing her food, the Frenchwoman looked at her imperiously, with narrowed eyes.
"If they do attack, I shall leave you to their mercy, then you will have wished you 'ad taken notice of my observations," she said, trying to sound as stern as possible, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"I suppose I could pelt them with the disfigured pasties that I made," she replied nonchalantly, causing Fleur to splutter on the water she was drinking as she laughed.
They finished off their pasties in comfortable silence, constantly catching the other's shy glances, wide smiles on both their faces.
Hermione took out a couple of fine marker pens, passing one to Fleur.
"Muggles are ingenious, these things are so much more convenient than having to carry around a bottle of ink and a quill," said Fleur, looking at the pen delightedly, not catching the soft gaze of adoration on Hermione's face.
"You can use that ingenious invention to write on this." Hermione passed a large, flattened, pale purple square to Fleur, who looked at her expectantly.
"Pull it apart from the top and bottom Fleur," she instructed, watching the blonde open out the lantern, unable to take her gaze from the blonde's face. The years hadn't changed the fact that seeing her breathtaking beauty in firelight made her heart clench painfully; watching the blonde's unguarded expression of joy, she knew that she would give anything to protect her from the world.
"I'm beginning to feel very ignorant, this is another thing that I do not know what it is," she said to Hermione, a lop sided grin on her face.
"I wanted to do something different for you, I figured you'd have been on plenty of magic dates with people from the magical community, but probably not many muggle dates," Hermione shrugged, a shy smile on her face.
"You're my first," she smirked in reply.
"It's a sky lantern. I thought you could write your wishes or dreams, or whatever you want onto the side and then…well…you'll see. And I'll do the same."
Fleur could only nod in reply, overwhelming touched at the idea, despite not completely understanding what a sky lantern was. Looking at the brunette, she could see that she was engrossed in writing something on her lantern and she sat back wondering what she was going to write.
When Hermione looked up, she could see the Frenchwoman writing slowly and carefully. She took out the rest of the lanterns from her bag, opening them up, readying them for lighting.
"Are you done?" she asked, seeing the blonde watching her.
"Oui."
"Then we can set them on their way." She took her wand, and lit the wick at the bottom of the lantern, keeping a firm hold of it as the flame grew stronger, illuminating the yellow paper. Finally, she let go and it slowly soared away, hearing Fleur's gasp.
Fleur couldn't take her eyes from it as she watched it travel higher; she never knew that something as simple as a lantern could be so beautiful. And then she spotted a red one slowly making its way into the darkness. And then a blue one. And soon the dark sky was littered with lanterns of differing colours. She tore her eyes from the sky and found the younger woman looking at her, a tender smile on her face.
"Thank you," was all she managed to say, feeling herself choking up with emotion. Hermione walked over, wrapping the blonde in her arms, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck before hugging her tightly, feeling the blonde reciprocate. They both stood there just holding each other, taking comfort in each other. Finally, Fleur pulled herself away slightly with a sniff, eyes still watering slightly. She slowly lit her lantern the way she had seen Hermione had and waited. When Fleur felt the lantern gently tugging at her hands, she let go, watching it slowly float upwards, and she felt her heart lift as it made its way into the ether, knowing her own dreams were following Hermione's.
She put her arm around the brunette's waist, pulling her in front of her, wrapping both arms around her waist, comfortably leaning her chin on Hermione's shoulder. Everything felt so damn right. Hermione sighed contentedly as she leaned back into the blonde's hold, feeling the smooth skin of her cheek against her own, placing her own hands over Fleur's. Both of them silently watched the lanterns lazily make their way into the night, bright splashes of colour against the dark. Just being together, hearing the crashing of the waves in front of them and the crackling of the fire nearby, no words were needed. What they had right now was enough. Actually, it was more than enough. It was a glimpse of what they could have.