"Well she is certainly accomplished for her age."Apolline Delacour said as she looked over the wall of certificates and awards that Luna Lovegood had received over the years. Apolline along with her mother Sabine and her daughter Fleur had been waiting in Luna's office for the woman to show up. Apolline took the time to look around and try to see what kind of person Luna was.
"Quite." Fleur agreed grudgingly. She had to admit that Luna was very good at what she did. The various awards and certificates of achievements were proof of such. It made Fleur feel embarrassed that the Bauxbaton Academy's Tri Wizard Champion's life amounted to a sham marriage and a part time job at a bank. She was supposed to achieve so much. Fleur was the future Delacour Clan Elder and she hadn't achieved anything. Looking around Luna's office Fleur wouldn't blame Hermione if she picked Luna over Fleur.
"What have I told you about having a defeatist attitude. We don't know what type of relationship she has with Hermione. There could be many reasons for her being the co-owner of the vault." Sabine knew that Fleur was upset but they needed to keep clear heads. Luna was the only lead on Hermione that the Delacours found. None of their contacts had come up with anything except that she did a couple of interviews for a publication that was owned by Ms. Lovegood's father.
"I know it's just I have a hard time understanding why Hermione even associates with the Lovegoods after what they did during the war." One of the things that had been uncovered in their research was that Xenophilius Lovegood was the person responsible for Hermione being captured and tortured at the Malfoy manor. How Hermione was able to trust them enough after the war ended to share a vault with Luna wasn't something Fleur could figure out. Fleur had been the one that had helped Hermione after she had come to the burrow. The injuries and hexes that Hermione was suffering from were horrific and Fleur couldn't imagine why Hermione would voluntarily associate with the ones that were responsible for it happening.
"There are always two sides to every story." Apolline reminded her daughter. Looking over the personal pictures Luna had hanging one caught her attention. Not only was the photo a muggle one but the subject matter was confusing. It looked like Luna and a man that was obviously her father were hugging an over sized stuffed animal. They had weird hats on their heads that made them look like they had large black ears. The castle in the background wasn't one that Apolline recognized either.
"I see you found my favorite photo." Luna said as she entered her office and found the three Delacour woman inside. Fleur and what Luna guessed was her grandmother were sitting in the chairs across from her desk while who Luna thought was Fleur's mother was looking at the pictures on her wall.
Apolline blushed at having been caught. "I apologize but the subject matter caught my attention. Where exactly is that castle located?"
"It's not a real castle." Luna told them. "I have a muggle friend who introduced my father and I to as she likes to call it the wonderful world of Disney. It was when she was discussing her childhood she explained how muggle movies and cartoons worked. That picture was taken at a Disney themed muggle amusement park that she was nice enough to take us to."
"That was very nice of her." Fleur gritted out between clenched teeth. It was obvious that the muggle Luna was talking about was Hermione and Fleur didn't like the feelings of jealousy she felt because someone other than her experienced things that we important to her mate.
Luna looked at Fleur in confusion. She wasn't sure why the blond was so upset about hearing about Hermione taking her to EuroDisney. "Min is a good friend. I'm lucky to have her in my life."
"Having good friends is important." Sabine shot Fleur a look. She was now rethinking letting Fleur come with them. It was obvious that Fleur wasn't going to remain calm.
"I agree. "Luna wasn't quite sure how to start this conversation as she had no clue what the Delacours wanted to meet with her for. "I don't mean to be rude but although I have had some dealings with Mrs. Weasley I can't think of any reason for you to want to speak to me."
"Delacour!" Fleur growled.
"Excuse me?" Luna asked.
"My last name is Delacour. I am in the process of divorcing Mr. Weasley and will no longer continue to use the Weasley name." Fleur told her.
"I see. I'm sorry to hear that." Luna said.
"Don't be. He is a horrible man. I'm lucky I got out when I did." Fleur wasn't going to hold back and be polite when talking about Bill. She had no reason to defend him and would gladly tell anyone who listened what kind of person he was.
"He's a Weasley of course he's horrible." Luna quickly changed the subject before she could be questioned on the comment she let slip. "So is it advice you are wanting on how to go forward with your divorce?"
Sabine wanted to question what Luna meant about her comment about Bill being a Weasley but held back and filed it away to investigate later. It seemed that Luna may know why Hermione no longer talked to the Weasleys and although interested in why that might be it wasn't important. "No we are here for a somewhat sensitive matter."
"Well this room is soundproof so no one will hear anything we discuss." Luna pulled out her wand and transfigured a book into a chair. "Here you are Mrs. Delacour have a seat and you can tell me what it is I can do for you."
"Thank you." Apolline moved the chair so she was sitting on the other side of Fleur. She figured her daughter would need all the support she could get as this was going to be a tough conversation.
"Before we begin how you feel about love potions?"Sabine figured it was best to start with that.
"I think they are horrible and violate those they are used on and should be outlawed." Luna said.
Sabine smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. The reason I'm asking is because recently we discovered that Bill Weasley had been giving one to Fleur."
"Oh my god!" Luna gasped. "That's horrible."
"Yes it is. From what we can piece together he began administering it in the beginning stages of the war." Sabine told her.
"No wonder you are getting divorced. Are you going to bring charges against him?" Luna figured this was why they wanted to talk to her. For advice on how to maneuver their way as magical creatures to get justice for Fleur.
"We are but that isn't why we are speaking to you." Sabine said. "We need your help."
"Well I assumed that. I am still new at this job but I can recommend some good lawyers that could represent you in court." Luna began only to be cut off.
"We don't need help with that." Sabine interjected. "We need help finding someone."
"Oh, and how could I help you find someone?" Luna asked.
"We are trying to find Hermione Granger." Fleur blurted out not able to wait any longer.
Luna raised her eyebrow. "How would I know where she is?"
"In our search for her we found a couple of connections to you. We were hoping that you would set up a meeting for us." Sabine explained.
"Let's say I know how to get in touch with Hermione. What is it you want from her?"Luna usually would just play stupid and not tell anyone asking about Hermione anything but she thought about the look in Hermione's eyes when she was speaking about Fleur. The obvious longing. It was because of that she would humor the Delacours.
"That's private." Fleur said. She wasn't going to explain to this woman why she needed to talk to her own mate.
Apolline put her hand on Fleur's arm to calm her. "What Fleur means is that we need her help in a personal matter."
"And what is this personal matter?" Luna asked.
"It pertains to the love potion that Bill was using on Fleur." Sabine said before Fleur could snap at the other blond again. Luna hadn't denied knowing Hermione and it seemed that she was willing to hear them out so that meant that Fleur needed to tread carefully.
"From what I know about Hermione I doubt she could help you with a love potion." Luna knew there was something these three women weren't telling her and there was no way that she was going to pass along anything to Hermione without knowing what it was.
Clearing picking up on what Luna was thinking Sabine decided to be as honest as she could. "I can see you are reluctant to help us. You don't know any of us that well and because of that we don't have your trust."
"That is true." Luna agreed.
"However this is a matter of great importance to not only my family but to the rest of the Veela population as well. We feel that the only way for us to get justice for Fleur is to speak with Hermione. I want to explain exactly why she is so important but it's not my place to say. It's a Veela issue that can only be spoken about between Fleur and Hermione personally." Sabine explained.
"That really doesn't tell me anything." Luna said.
"Can you help us or not?!" Fleur demanded. She was sick of sitting here talking in circles with the person who was keeping her away from her mate. Now that the effects of the potion had completely worn off she was feeling the full force of the mating bond. Her Veela side was focused on nothing more than finding Hermione and if the woman before her didn't help them then blood would be shed.
"Fleur." Apolline scolded. "That was uncalled for."
"I apologize Luna. The withdrawals from the love potion have affected Fleur's mental state. She is dealing with mood swings." Sabine explained.
"That is understandable." Luna didn't believe it was the true reason Fleur was being rude but decided to let it go. "Listen, I'm going to be honest with you because I feel like you aren't actively searching for Hermione to cause trouble for her."
"I can promise you we are not." Sabine hoped this meant they were going to be able to talk to Hermione.
"For some reason I believe you." Luna didn't know why she did but she trusted her gut and her gut told her that these people wouldn't hurt Hermione. "I do know how to contact Hermione Granger."
"So you'll set up a meeting for us?" Apolline asked excitedly.
Luna shook her head. "I can't do that. She wouldn't be pleased with me if I forced her to meet someone."
"Although that is not what we wished to hear we expected to be declined the meeting." Sabine pulled an envelope out of her jacket pocket and held it out for Luna. "Since you can't set up a meeting can you pass along this letter to her?It will hopefully explain the situation well enough that she will willingly meet with us on her own."
Luna took the letter. "That I can do. I can't promise that she will read it or that she will contact you but I will give it to her."
"How soon can you get it to her?" Apolline wanted to know how long they should expect to wait for a response.
"I'll get it to her today." Luna didn't have any more appointments for the rest of the day so she was going to go home right after this meeting was over. That way she could catch Hermione before she went off before saying goodbye like the brown haired girl liked to do.
"That quickly?" Sabine wondered if Hermione was in the country. If she was close enough to receive a letter so quickly then it shouldn't be a problem for Hermione to travel to France as the letter asked her to do.
"She recently checked in so I know where she is staying." Luna wasn't going to tell them that Hermione was at her house. She didn't want them storming over there.
"What do you mean checked in? What has she been doing?" Fleur asked. Now that they had a direct link to Hermione she was almost vibrating with the many questions she had about her mate.
"She travels for work." Luna told them vaguely.
Recognizing the end of the conversation Sabine decided they should leave on a positive note. Standing she held her hand out to Luna. "Thank you Ms. Lovegood for not only your time but your help as well."
"It's no problem." Luna stood as well and accepted the matriarch's hand. Turning to Apolline the woman shook her hand gladly. It was when she held her hand out to Fleur that Luna became concerned. The woman's blue eyes were boring into her own and Luna suddenly felt afraid for her life. She wondered if this was how Hermione felt when the yeti chased her.
Fleur broke eye contact with Luna when she felt an elbow strike her in the side. Grunting she glared at her mother who simply glared back and motioned to Luna. Fleur finally took the hand being held out towards her. "Thank you."
"Like I said it's no problem." Luna released Fleur's hand and walked the trio to her office door. The quicker she got them to leave her office the quicker she would be safe from Fleur. "Have a good trip home and I promise to give Hermione the letter today."
"Of course. We will await a reply." Sabine grabbed Fleur by the arm and all but dragged her out of Luna's office followed by Apolline who guarded Fleur from the back to make sure she didn't make a move on the helpful young woman.
"Well let's hope Hermione actually reads the letter and doesn't just get mad and set it on fire. Actually let's hope she doesn't set me on fire." Luna mused aloud after the door shut. Her connection to Hermione had never been uncovered by anyone before and Luna knew Hermione wouldn't be happy when Luna confirmed that she told the Delacours that she had a way to get in touch with her. Hopefully whatever was written in the letter would be enough to sooth Hermione's anger at the situation because Luna didn't want to deal with Hermione if she was angry. Who knows how long Hermione would stay mad at her. The last time they didn't hear from or see her for almost a year.