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Chapter 22 Trust Your Heart
Fleur woke to the 'tap tap tap' on the window. She moved slowly on the bed and slipped out from under the covers, glancing over at Hermione she saw that the brunette was still asleep and was grateful that the owl at the window had not woke her up. Fleur tip toed to the window and opened it for Pigwidgeon to hop onto the dresser, the tiny owl turned it's cheerful white face up at Fleur and hooted softly. Fleur smiled fondly at the owl and released the letter from his leg gently. Pigwidgeon playfully nipped Fleur's finger, almost encouragingly then hopped out onto the ledge of the window and took off. Fleur pulled the window almost closed but let the cool air continue to have a small gap to creep into the room, she turned the envelope over, though she did not need to be told who it was from, the single word on the front struck her heartstrings.
Fleur
Strangely, Fleur found only the presence of her first name a comfort, it meant that Bill was coming to terms with what she had been trying to get through to him for months; she was not his possession just because she married him and the love that they both had felt at the beginning of their marriage had changed. At the same time this thought was a comfort, it still hurt her, she may not be in love with Fleur but that did not mean that she did not love him nor did it mean she wanted to see him hurt never mind be the cause of said hurt. Fleur wiped a spilled tear from her face, took a deep breath and went over to the bed. Fleur pulled the covers up ensuring that Hermione would be warm enough while she was gone, she leaned down to kiss Hermione's forehead but stopped inches from the sleeping woman's face, Fleur thought to herself how beautiful Hermione was, how she really needed to sort this thing out with Bill so that she could tell Hermione how beautiful she was. In a moment of bravery Fleur leant down and softly brushed her lips against Hermione's, stealing a kiss.
Fleur blushed and pulled away, "I do love you 'Ermione," she whispered then turned and left the room. She tiptoed down the three flights of stairs that lead to the kitchen and with a flick of her wand lit the lanterns. Kreacher turned to look at Fleur, then bowed and left the room without a word, he had become used to having visitors to his kitchen at all times of the day and night and had decided that it was just not worth the effort fighting, so he opened the door to his cupboard, curled up and went to sleep. Fleur took another deep breath, trying to calm herself and set some coffee up to brew, while she waited she opened the envelope in her hands. Nervously, she cast her eyes over the letter, expecting harsh angry words Fleur was surprised to see cold unemotional words.
Fleur,
Thank you for your letter. Breakfast is certainly the most important meal of the day and as such I think you are correct it is important not to miss the meal. My brothers and I do not miss a single breakfast as we find it prepares you better for whatever may happen the rest of the day,
Your husband,
William
When she had read the letter over twice Fleur set it on the kitchen table and turned to pour herself a coffee. The door opened and Fleur turned her attention to that area of the kitchen, her lips parted in surprise when she saw Hermione, she had left her asleep in bed not moments ago yet here she was wide awake. Without words, Hermione sat at the kitchen table and Fleur turned around and poured a second cup of coffee, trying to subtly wipe the tears from her face as she did so. Fleur could feel Hermione's eyes on her and she suddenly worried that perhaps she had not been asleep when she kissed her. Fleur set a cup in front of Hermione and then sat down at the table, keeping her body stiff while she internally worked to try and get control of her feelings, preparing for a verbal torrent for Hermione about how Fleur had taken advantage of her trust, by kissing her when she was asleep.
Hermione considered Fleur and the silence that sat between them, something was very wrong here, Fleur's posture was defensive she was bracing herself for something. On top of her posture Fleur's red, swollen eyes told Hermione that she had been crying. Hermione smiled softly at Fleur but the blonde was staring unwaveringly at her coffee cup so Hermione, reached out and took her hand in her own, "Fleur, whatever it is you think you have done to make me angry, put it aside for now, I am not aware of anything and I am not angry, so why don't you talk to me about what is wrong and we will deal with everything else...later," Hermione told her.
Fleur lifted her gaze to Hermione's as relief washed through her body. Fleur did not think that she could have taken the inevitable rejection from Hermione on the same day that she was going to face Bill, there is only so much her bruised psyche could take. Fleur slip the letter over to Hermione, who picked it up and read it, then set it back on the table, fighting off the sting of the words at the end, 'Your husband'.
"He was worried it would be intercepted, someone is looking for you?" Hermione asked, Fleur nodded in response. Hermione tried to read between the lines, "It is cold because he was protecting you, he did not want the owl to be intercepted and either lead them to you or let them know more than how important you both thought breakfast is, at worst they would have deduced that you two were meeting for breakfast, husband and wife." Hermione explained. Fleur flinched at the words and pulled her hand from Hermione's pacing across the kitchen. She felt claustrophobic, this room was caving in on her, smothering her. Hermione was being so nice, such a good friend but her words were wounding Fleur and she did not even know it. Hermione remained silent, waiting for Fleur to talk, there was clearly some internal struggle with her friend and she wanted to give her the opportunity to change the subject or open up to her about it.
"'Ermione," Fleur started , still with her back to her friend, she could not face her and Hermione was ok with that for now, "Some'ow I 'ave fallen in love wiz..."she stopped and swallowed trying to find the nerve to say what she needed to say but she could not. "I am not in love wiz Bill, zere iz anozzer but zey do not know. I'ave known zis for a while and so 'as Bill." Suddenly she found that now that she had started it was easy to say some things and so she continued, "Our marriage was a mistake born of lust for each ozzer and rushed because of the impending wizarding war, but ze longer ze sham of ze marriage went on ze more I realized zat I 'ad feelings for anozzer. William and I 'ave tried to talk, or razzer I 'ave tried to talk to 'im but 'e will not listen. Zis letter, addressed to 'Fleur' razzer zan 'Fleur Weasley' tells me zat 'e is ready to listen." She turned to look at Hermione who was listening to what Fleur was saying as her eyes were filled with compassion. "'Ermione, I may not be in love wiz Bill, but zat does not mean zat I do not love 'im, 'e 'as been very good to me, we 'ave been a family unit for a long time. Ze last zing I want to do iz 'urt 'im." As Fleur finished her statement she broke down sobbing, Hermione instantly went over to her friend, her mind was racing so she shut it off, now was not the time to be selfish.
Hermione pulled Fleur into her arms and refrained from making comment on the situation as she slowly tried to put herself in the correct frame of mind to deal with this. "My parents are angry becauze of ze mess I 'ave made of zis, zey told me zat ze second I knew of zis zen I should 'ave left Bill," Fleur sobbed and tried to calm herself enough to speak but could not.
"The other person that you are in love with, your parents are so angry with you because you know that the other person is your soul mate, the one you should be bonded to life for?" Hermione asked, she knew she was prying but she felt it was the only explanation that would explain why they and Fleur were so upset.
Fleur let out a sob as she replied "Oui," she clung to Hermione for she knew that she could not look the one she loved in the eye right now, she was too vulnerable and Hermione seemed to read her like a book at the best times, the last thing she needed was for Hermione to recognise that it was she that Fleur loved and she that Fleur was to be bonded to for life. She did not think that Hermione needed that pressure at the moment. Fleur took a deep breath and clamed a little, "Maman tells me zat et iz time for action, I 'ave made a mess and ze pieces will not pick up zemselves." Hermione understood where Fleur's father was coming from but did think that he had been somewhat brutal with Fleur which angered her a little.
Hermione kissed Fleur's head then held her face so that Fleur hand no choice but to look at her, she smiled reassuringly at her friend who had been hiding all this pain. Hermione flet that it made sense that fleur had come and rescued her now, she needed a friend and a reason to run away from dealing with her broken down marriage not to mention the Weasley clan who can be overwhelming at the best of time. Staring into Fleur's blue eyes Hermione was reminded of the ocean, she let herself smile, "Fleur, we are going to sit this down and we are going to sort this out and you are going to stop torturing yourself over mistakes you may have made ok?" she asked Fleur who dropped her gaze from Hermione's for a moment. Hermione ducked down so that she was back within our field of view, "It is supposed to be hard Fleur, if it wasn't then it wouldn't be worth it." She said and then continued, "Everyone makes mistakes, fixing them is how we learn to avoid them in the future, this can all be fixed and it will be hard but I promise that you won't be alone, you have a good friend who will stand by your side." Hermione offered a sincere smile.
Fleur sighed and nodded as she gave her eyes to Hermione once more, she knew that at the very least she needed to sort things with Bill to ease the pressure off of a lot of people. Hermione led her friend back to the table and sat her down, she picked up Fleur's coffee cup and her own cup and dumped the now cold contents down the sink and poured each of them a fresh coffee and returned to the table, Fleur was hanging her head and Hermione heart sank, "No Fleur, please don't do that, you have nothing to be ashamed of. All you have done is try to protect people's feelings that is not a bad thing, it is just that now it is time to make a move." Hermione told her friend as she handed Fleur's cup to her.
Fleur looked up at Hermione and smiled, "Do you zink I am being unkind 'Ermione?" She asked before clarifying, "Do you believe that I 'ave made my bed wiz Bill and I should lie in it?" Fleur asked in almost a whisper.
Hermione winced at the term, "Your Father?" she asked Fleur and and the blonde nodded solemnly. Hermione grimaced she really wanted to give Fleur's parents a piece of her mind, but she pushed the emotions down and sighed, "Fleur, it is your decision. I want you to be happy and I think if you settle down with Bill you will have a good life, you will spend a majority of your life content but you will never be happy, in fact I imagine you will spend a lot of your life wondering if you missed a chance to be happy, which will make you miserable." Hermione dropped her gaze from Fleur, she was preaching and she knew it. Fleur had been hanging on every word, "Fleur, if this last year has taught me anything then it is that life is too short not to pursue happiness. I think you should follow your heart, it will be hard but it will be worth it." Hermione reached out and squeezed Fleur's hand as she said it so that her friend would feel reassured.
Fleur thought about what Hermione had said, she held onto her friend's hand as though it was the only thing in the world that was grounding her. Hermione was right, if she stayed with Bill then she would spend the rest of her life wishing she had confessed her love to Hermione, but she cannot do that until she deals with William. Fleur nodded, she had made up her mind, she was going to deal with him once and for all today.
Hermione smiled, she could tell that Fleur had just made up her mind because relief seemed to wash through her friends face and body like a wave. Hermione squeezed Fleur's hand again and then picked up her coffee, glad that she was able to return at least a small portion of the support that Fleur had given her.
Fleur sighed, she did feel better now that her mind was made up. "'Ermione, why did you wake up, there is enough time for you to get some more sleep before you need to see Ron." Fleur asked.
Hermione suddenly felt the weight of the world had been placed right back onto her shoulders, she shrugged them as though she could just push the weight back off, but unsurprisingly it was still there. "I know it sounds weird, but I woke up because I sensed that there was something wrong," she dropped her gaze from Fleur's and then continued, "I think that my mind just needs to prepare itself for seeing Ron. I can't freeze up with him, I need to ask him about Harry, I have an idea what is going on there. I think Harry is still alive and I think there is a way to save him but I don't think that Ron will just offer up information." She explained, as she did so they both turned towards the now opening kitchen door.
Ginny had been waiting for an opportune moment to announce her presence, it seemed like this was it now that the conversation had turned to Harry and he was the reason she couldn't sleep, the reason her heart was breaking. "So it's true then, Luna said you saw Harry?" Ginny asked her friend.
Fleur pulled her hand out of Hermione's as her friend got up to offer comfort to the redhead. Hermione stepped to the door and put her arms around Ginny without a word, Ginny stood there, a fierce look on her face. She did not step away from Hermione, but she did not reciprocate either. "Please just tell me Hermione?" she begged. Hermione nodded and led Ginny over to the table to sit down. Instinctively, Fleur got up and poured another coffee, she knew that Ginny did not really like the drink but she could not think of what else to do for her at the moment.
"Ginny, I did see Harry at Hogwarts yesterday. That is to say I saw his body, but he was under the control of You-Know-Who." Hermione let the statement rest in the air for a moment as tears spilled from Ginny's eyes.
"I knew he wasn't dead, I told everyone that he was still alive but no one believed me." Ginny answered angrily as she turned her tear filled eyes to Hermione, "I could feel it in here." She told her friend as she pounded her chest with her hand.
Hermione reached out and stopped Ginny from hurting herself with her fist, "Ginny, I am sorry that no one believed you." She said softly. Ginny nodded at the acknowledgement, it wasn't enough, but it had hardly been Hermione's fault and besides if anyone was smart enough to figure out how to get Harry back then it was Hermione.
"'Ermione, what do you mean 'e was controlled by You-Know-'O?" Fleur asked attempting to take some of the emotion out of the situation.
Hermione flashed a grateful smile at Fleur as she gave Ginny a moment to compose herself, "We have been hunting Horcrux's, I believe that Harry is the Horcrux that Voldemort never meant to make, which is why when he cast Avada Kedavra in the forbidden forest it didn't kill Harry. However somehow Harry's body has been taken control of by You-Know-Who, or rather the piece of his soul that is kept within Harry's body." Hermione explained the two listening witches were working this through their mind.
"So it is possible that the cures killed Harry's soul but left his body alive because there was another soul in there?" Ginny asked almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes Ginny, I think that is possible, but I think that there is more to it than that, I do not believe that Harry's soul has been destroyed, I rather think it was 'pushed out', you see Harry was carrying the Resurrection Stone at the time, and I believe that the stone unintentionally transferred Harry's soul to the nearest empty vessel, which I am assuming at the time would have been You-Know-Who's body." Hermione finished voicing her opinions and she knew that her evidence was thin at best.
"There are a lot of 'I thinks' and 'I belives' in that statement Hermione," Ginny stated and the disappointment was plain on her face, "What makes you sure?" she asked her friend.
"Two things," Hermione stated, "The first being that You-Know-Who is running around in Harry's body not his own. The second reason being that you believe in your heart that Harry is not dead." Hermione smiled at her friend and Ginny returned the smile but Hermione could tell that she was not convinced. "I think Ron knows, I think he was there." This time it was Hermione's turn to look down at her hands. She took a deep breath, "Ginny, when Harry went to the forbidden forest it was the first time I had any inkling that Bellatrix was in my head, she projected the scene before her into my mind and I saw Harry die. Now believe me when I tell you that I have replayed that scene in my head a hundred times a day," Hermione sniffed as she tried to push back tears, "but there is something in the memory that I never realised before, I did not realise it until I saw Harry in Hogwarts." Hermione wiped her face while the other two witches waited patiently for her to divulge more information on what she had seen. After another deep breath Hermione continued, "It explains why Ron has not tried to leave Shell cottage, he won't return to the Death Eaters because when You-Know-Who cast the Avada Kedavra curse on Harry, Ron used a basilisk fang on You-know Who, his body survived because Harry's soul instantly entered it, and the resurrection stone healed the body. For some reason the only thing that will redeem Ron in the Death Eaters eyes is if he returns with me. I need to know why, and I need to know from Ron why he turned on them in the first place."
The three witches sat in silence for a few moments. Hermione's revelations were unbelievable, yet Ginny and Fleur believed her. Ginny was filled with Hope that there was a way to rescue Harry, "We need to go to Shell cottage and speak to Ron then," she sprang to her feet, "I am going to wake Luna so we can go." And before either Fleur or Hermione could stop her she was out the door and running up the stairs.
Fleur was a step ahead of Ginny though, "Non Hermione." She said firmly.
Hermione turned to face Fleur confusion danced across her face, "No what Fleur?" she asked.
"Even if it will save Harry, you are not going to let Ron successfully return you to ze Death Eaters," Fleur said and she held up her hand to stop the protests on Hermione's lips, "We will come up wiz anozzer plan, anozzer way. A way zat does not involve you falling into Bellatrix's hands again, I do not like it and Ginny will not like it. Zere will be anozzer way." Fleur glared at Hermione and it was a formidable look, she was daring Hermione to disagree with her.
Hermione considered Fleur's words, she had read the situation very well and guessed Hermione's plan before she herself had finished forming it. The passion in Fleur's eyes was ablaze and Hermione found she could do nothing but nod her head in agreement.
"I want to 'ear you sat zat you will not willingly go to Bellatrix." Fleur insisted.
Hermione sighed, she was cornered, she knew if she did not agree then Fleur and Ginny would not take her to Shell cottage and she really did need to confirm things with Ron before she stormed that castle so to speak. "I will not willingly go to Bellatrix, I promise." Hermione added the promise on as a reassurance and Fleur nodded in appreciation.
Moments later Ginny and Luna joined them in the kitchen and the four witches prepared to floo to Shell cottage through the unregistered floo in the shed.