"Hermione…." Apolline Delacour sighed as her daughter Fleur once again called out the name of the young witch. It had been two weeks since Fleur had come home to deal with clan business and a week since the fevers and sickness had started. Fleur had been in good spirits when she first returned home but as the days went by she had become short tempered and angry. That lasted about three days until she had started complaining of feeling ill. The clan healer had come to check her out and gave her some potions for her upset stomach and headaches.
When those did nothing to help and Fleur had only gotten worse the healer tested Fleur's blood and found out that someone had used a love potion on her. It didn't take long for the clan to figure out what had happened to Fleur especially with her calling out Hermione's name and not that of her husband Bill's. When the truth was revealed it had taken five people to hold Apolline back from going after the man. It was only when her mother forbid anyone from harming Bill that Apolline calmed down. No matter how mad she was it wouldn't be smart to go against the clan elder.
"How is she?" Gabrielle asked her mother as she looked down at her sister's flushed face and sweat slicked hair.
"No better. The healer said it would be a few days until she gets over the worst of the withdrawals." Apolline said.
"Any word on how the search for Hermione is going?" Gabrielle wondered if they had finally found the witch.
Apolline shook her head. "No one has seen or heard from Hermione Granger in years."
"What about her parents?" Gabrielle figured the girl would have at least kept in touch with them.
"Apparently before she went off with Harry and Ron she performed a spell that erased any memory they had of her." Apolline told her.
"But surely she reversed the spell." Gabrielle said.
"It was irreversible. Before she went missing she enlisted a couple of the Hogwarts professors to help her but they were unsuccessful. After the attempt failed she left without telling anyone where she was going or how long she would be gone." Apolline wished they could find Hermione but even the members of the various flocks they had reached out to had found nothing.
"If we could just find her. Having her mate close by would help Fleur get better quicker." Gabrielle wasn't saying anything her mother didn't know but the frustration of not being able to do anything to help her sister was getting to her.
"Your grand mere has reached out to the British magical ministry but has gotten the run around. I personally think they don't know anything and are just trying to save themselves from the embarrassment of not knowing where the savior is." Apolline rinsed the washcloth she had been wiping Fleur's face with in the tub of water next to the bed and rung it out. She would prefer to give her daughter a proper bath but the healer said Fleur's body wasn't strong enough to be moved around.
Gabrielle flinched when Fleur started whimpering in her sleep. "I want to kill him for what he has done to her."
"You aren't the only one but your grand mere has forbidden us from taking action. She wants to make sure we do everything properly so that Bill will be punished by the courts." Apolline said.
"Like the courts care about us." Gabrielle scoffed. "If it is left up to them they will probably decide what he did was justified because Fleur is just another magical creature not an actual person."
"That's why we need to find Hermione. If she accepts the bond then Bill wouldn't have a leg to stand on." Noticing Gabrielle didn't look convinced Apolline continued. "Do you honestly believe that they would rule against the mate of the person who singlehandedly won the war for them."
Gabrielle shook her head. "No I don't but the problem is we don't know where she is."
"We have not just members of our flock out looking for leads but other flocks as well."Apolline told her.
"How were you able to get them to cooperate?" Veela clans were very territorial and weren't known for mixing with those outside of their flocks so Gabrielle was surprised they were helping.
"This incident has caused a lot of distress amongst our kind. Not only is Fleur in line to be our clan elder but she is Veela. What happens when Bill is tried in court will be watched by the world. We need to make a stand and show that we deserve the same rights as human witches and wizards. Knowing that Hermione is Fleur's mate has made them realize that we actually have a chance to succeed if we have her on our side." Apolline explained.
"If we find her." Gabrielle said.
"We will find her." Apolline couldn't allow herself to think otherwise. It was to important to the Veela population to find Hermione. "We are trying to find out if she left behind any belongings to pick up her scent but we haven't been successful yet."
"Have you reached out to the Potter boy?" Gabrielle asked.
Apolline nodded. "He responded to our inquiry saying he had no information on the whereabouts of Hermione and as far as he knew she left nothing behind."
"We can't really reach out to the Weasleys can we?" Gabrielle figured they wouldn't be willing to help them find Fleur's true mate.
"No but from the rumors I have heard Hermione wasn't on good terms with them when she left." Apolline said.
"What happened?" Gabrielle had thought Hermione was rather close with the youngest boy Ron.
"I'm not sure. I don't think anyone actually knows except for the people involved and they aren't talking."Apolline told her.
"I guess the only thing we can do now is wait for Fleur to wake up and hope that someone finds Hermione." Gabrielle wished they could do more but they couldn't at least until Fleur was awake and feeling better. Not that she thought that being forced to stay away from her mate for years would be something someone easily recovered from. Fleur had a long road ahead of her and Gabrielle hoped against hope that Fleur would travel that road with her mate by her side.