thankyou to all of my supporters with special thanks to the awesome people Ibuki Mioda, SvenGTX, Jack Schriner and Oli Wieszun. love you all

chapters 29 and 30 are already up and available if you would like to find them go to the sight and add /Lowten at the end

CHAPTER 28 - I'll be home for christmas

A few days after the Hogsmeade weekend was the day everyone was going home for Christmas. The school was mostly broken into two camps. The group of students who were going home (and running around saying goodbye to friends, trying to find something that had been mislaid,, and rushing their breakfast) was smaller than normal because the other group, the ones staying at Hogwarts, contained almost every student in fourth year or higher staying for the Yule Ball.

Harry, Hermione, and Fleur were also leaving the school, but as they didn't need to catch the train they were enjoying their breakfast at a much more relaxed pace. Hermione had talked with Professor McGonagall and arranged that they could use one of the school carriages to get to Hogsmeade, and the deputy had given them permission but only after the students who were catching the train had finished with them. She didn't want anyone missing the train because of a mix-up with the carriages.

It wasn't until around midday that the three of them left the castle - well, four of them, as they were joined in their carriage by a second year Slytherin boy who also lived in Hogsmeade. The ride was comfortable enough for everyone except Hermione, who had Crooks in her lap, and the cat clawed her a little every time they hit a bump. The carriage stopped at the boy's house first, where he only gave them a polite nod and left. As they reached the Potter abode, they pulled their trunks behind them as they quickly ran into the house to escape the chill of the snow.

They didn't get far into the house when Sassy appeared before them, taking their cloaks and trunks before telling them, "Master Potter, your guests are waiting in the family room," and popping away with their luggage. Upon hearing that her parents were just upstairs, Hermione took off on a run, leaving the other two standing there. Crooks watched his Mistress leave, then decided to explore his new domain. Fleur looked nervous, so Harry took her hand and smiled at her. "Don't worry so much. The Grangers are good peo-" He was cut off by the sound of Hermione screeching in joy. "Sounds like Mione found them," he joked as he turned back to Fleur, getting a small smile to flicker across her face before it was once again replaced by nervousness.

"Let's go then," Fleur said despite her nervousness. Harry nodded and led her up the stairs. Once they reached the top of the stairs, he stopped in surprise. Hermione wasn't hugging her parents, instead she was hugging someone else as her parents watched, smiling; someone Harry had never thought he would see in this house. It was Jean Richards, Hermione's nan.

The touching scene was interrupted by a sudden and violent sneeze from Ms. Richards. "Sorry dear, my allergies are playing up," She was able to get out between further sneezes. At her nan's statement, Hermione's eyes went wide. It was only then that Harry realised that, because they were still in the magical world, Hermione hadn't bothered to wear her hair band or tail sock, and her feline attributes were on full display. While the ears and the tail had just become normal to him, Ms. Richards was allergic to cat fur. Hermione ran out of the room and Harry was just able to see a few tears in her eyes.

Harry was just about to follow Hermione as she ran up the stairs to the bedrooms when Fleur put a hand on his shoulder. "Non, I will go. You stay and greet your guests." With that, Fleur went after Hermione, leaving Harry with a room full of five people. "Eh...hi everyone," Harry said awkwardly, causing a few of the adults to chuckle around their worry for Hermione.

-ϟϟϟ-

Fleur found Hermione in the master bedroom crying as she sat on the bed, knees to her chest as she hugged them. Fleur went and sat next to the girl, put an arm around her, and pulled her into a hug. It was a good ten minutes before Hermione was ready to answer any questions, when Fleur asked her to explain what was wrong.

Between random sobs Hermione was able to explain. "My nan and I, we used to be really close, but then I found out I was a witch and I had to come to Hogwarts. I was ecstatic - really happy," Hermione added when Fleur looked confused at the word. "But I was told I couldn't tell any muggle - sorry, mundane - about magic. It was OK for me to talk to my parents, but no one else, so I wasn't going to see my nan as much and when I did I was going to be hiding a big part of my life from her. Then in my second year this happened." Hermione indicated her ears and tail. "But nan is allergic to cats. Harry was amazing; as soon as he learned about nan's allergy he made me an improved hairband and sock to not only conceal my abnormalities but keep the cat hair contained so it wouldn't hurt nan."

Hermione was going to continue, but Fleur interrupted her. "Your ears and tail are beautiful Hermione, they are a part of you, they are not abnormalities. You are not abnormal. You are beautiful and sexy, but just because you are upset right now doesn't mean I will let you insult yourself."

Hermione just nodded and continued. "I wanted to tell nan, but I couldn't. However, when I saw her here I knew someone must have told her, and I was so happy I didn't even think. I ran over and hugged her, and she gets these awful rashes from cats. I have been lying to her, and now I hurt her. How can I go down there and face her after what I have done?"

Fleur pulled Hermione into a hug and thought for a few moments about how to help her girlfriend. "OK first, I know you are worried but you don't need to be. your nan obviously loves you deeply. Maybe you didn't see it because you were hugging her at the time, but she had a massive grin on her face when I walked into the room."

"But-" Hermione tried to say, but Fleur cut her off.

"Non! No buts. Your nan obviously has already been told of what's happening, and she was happy to see you. As for being allergic to cats, that is easy to fix." Hermione looked up at Fleur, a hopeful but puzzled look on her face. "Hermione, you are still thinking like you can't fix this with magic because she doesn't know about the wizarding world, but she is here in Hogsmeade. So why don't you and I go to the apothecary in the village and get your nan some potions to prevent allergies? And maybe that confiserie you and Harry got those delicious sweets from when I was in Madam Pomfrey's care, so we can get your nan something to say you're sorry."

Fleur expected for Hermione to brighten up at her plan, so she was happy Hermione wiped the tears from her face and smiled at Fleur. What Fleur wasn't expecting was for Hermione to lean in and press her lips against Fleur's. The French girl's brain shorted off for a few moments due to her surprise, but rebooted almost immediately and she started kissing Hermione back. The kiss soon grew more heated, but Fleur reluctantly put a stop to it.

Hermione got a slightly hurt look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"If I don't stop now, I'll be unable to stop..." Fleur tried to explain.

Hermione seemed to like that response. "That's OK. I don't mind."

Fleur had to fight herself to keep herself in check. "Hermione, as much as I would love to do this with you right now, we can't. Not counting that your family is downstairs waiting to see you again, also I am just over a month from being of age, I am French and I am Veela."

"What does all that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked, curious more so than anything else.

"Well, there are many people in power in this country who don't like non-pure humans such as Veela, and plenty who do not like me because I am French. If I do anything before you and Harry are old enough to give legal consent, then they will use it to say the foreign bint used her Veela allure to rape two teens. Even if it's not true and we could prove it with the soul bonds, it would completely destroy our political image. I would prefer to wait until they can't do anything to break us up. Besides, you are probably not making the decision with a clear head right now and I don't want you to regret anything." Fleur leaned in and gave Hermione a quick peck on the lips before standing up, even though she wished, after that little breakthrough the girls had had, that she could just let go and do everything to Hermione that Fleur had been doing in her dreams.

-ϟϟϟ-

Hermione was admittedly feeling much better after Fleur had comforted her. She had wondered why Harry hadn't come for her, but while she and Fleur ran to the apothecary, Fleur had admitted she had dumped the responsibility of guests on Harry and had come to her. The apothecary did have a selection of potions that were aimed for different types of allergy and had different levels of effectiveness. Hermione had gotten a mid range one for her nan that would last for a month and would basically cure her of her allergy for that time. There was a potion that could completely cure an allergy to cat fur, but it was expensive and it only worked on witches and wizards. The label said it didn't work on squibs and didn't say anything about mundanes, but if it worked on wix and not squibs then it was likely the potion needed to use a person's own magic and would not work on a mundane.

The two girls were now in Honeydukes looking for an apology gift for her nan. She eliminated a large section of the sweets, she didn't want to overload her nan with suddenly breathing fire or flouting a few inches of the ground. She'd seriously considered some tooth flossing string mints but had remembered her nan was not a big fan of mints.

"What about the sugared fruits?" Fleur asked, pointing to tubs that contained things like crystallised pineapples, cherries and other fruits.

"I think she would like that,'' Hermione agreed then put together a pick'n'mix of the crystallised fruit, paired with a box of Honeydukes' best chocolates with liquid caramel centers.

The walk back to the house was uneventful, except for Hermione almost sliding on a patch of ice. They were soon back at the Potter house, their future home (even if Hermione suspected that Fleur would prefer them to winter in the south of France). They found Harry, Sirius, Remus, her parents and her nan in the same room they had left them in. The four of them were drinking tea from a bone china tea set that had the Potter crest painted on the side in blue, the same as normal china but a much simpler design. The first thing Hermione noticed, though, was that her nan's skin had started to develop a rash where Hermione's ears had brushed against her when she hugged her. She approached her nan worriedly, but her nan only smiled at her. "How are you feeling now kitten?" Her nan used the old nickname that only her father still used with any regularity, causing Hermione to smile a little.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even think when I saw you, you were there and I ran up and hugged you and I know you're allergic to cats and I rubbed my cat ears all over your face. I'm sorry. I just went to the shop and got you this. It's a potion that will cure you of your allergy for two weeks."

Her nan was shocked and the surprise was evident on her face. "Are you serious? Completely cured for two weeks?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. It's a potion I got from the apothecary so you can trust it. I'm sorry I kept all the magical stuff from you but the law is that I couldn't tell you, even though I wanted to tell you so much."

The older woman trusted Hermione, so she unstoppered the small bottle and drank the contents. Hermione watched as at first the look of disgust crossed her face at the taste of the potion, then watched as the rash that was visible on her nan's exposed skin started to recede at a pace that meant that her nan would be rash free in a few minutes. "Hermione dear, that was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. What was in it? That better not have been a prank," Her nan didn't look happy.

"I don't know what's in it, but I have seen the things that go into a lot of potions, so trust me, don't ask. But given some of the ingredients I have used in potions class, I'm not surprised that this one tastes bad. However, it's not a prank. I can see the rash on your cheek going away," Hermione told her nan.

At that Sassy popped in, holding a mirror out. "Heres you go Ms. Richards." She took the mirror from the elf, a little surprised at the unusual creature. As soon as Ms. Richards took the mirror, Sassy popped back to whatever she was doing before. She gave Hermione a look that told her that they would be talking about Sassy later, but she held up the mirror and checked her face. That she could actually see the rash fading surprised the older woman, and a smile broke over her face.

"Well I guess it does work." She set the mirror down on a nearby table and pulled Hermione into a hug. Hermione, who had avoided getting too close physically to her grandmother last Christmas and over the summer, leaned into the hug and wrapped her arms around her nan.

The two held that pose for almost 5 minutes before Dan chucked and spoke up. "Between Jean and Harry, it looks like our daughter is forgetting about us." He said in a joking way to Emma but loud enough for everyone to hear. Hermione laughed along with everyone else, but still held onto her nan for another minute before she let go of the older woman and went to hug her parents.

During this, Fleur was standing by the stairs awkwardly waiting for someone to acknowledge her. She couldn't be rude and leave, but she also didn't want to interrupt the family reunion. There was a sound of footsteps coming down the stairs that led to the bedrooms and Fleur turned to see Harry coming down them. "Hey Harry. Why were you upstairs?" Fleur asked, looking for anything to cover the awkwardness.

Apparently Fleur had chosen a bad topic because Harry blushed. "I was, ah, arguing with Sassy. She is insisting on putting Hermione, you, and myself in the master suite. I tried talking with her and arguing with her, but she won't budge."

Fleur blushed as well. A part of her really did want to jump into bed with the two teens she found almost irresistible, but as she had told Hermione they needed to hold off on anything like that. It didn't help that she was fully aware that Harry and Hermione were not keeping themselves apart; sharing a bedroom with them wouldn't be a good idea. "I don't think we are ready to share a room, Harry," Fleur said instead of mentioning her real worries. They were embarrassed enough as is.

"I know, but Sassy won't budge. I was going to ask, what if we transfigured the bed into three singles?" Harry asked. It was obvious to her he just didn't want to order Sassy around and she understood why, he just wasn't comfortable owning a house elf. From what she had gotten from Harry and Hermione ever since that article had come out in the newspaper, Harry's life before Hogwarts was not too dissimilar to how some of the more fanatical members of society treated their elves. Harry saw any order to them as the same cruelty he himself was treated to. "I'll speak with her, Harry. Can you introduce me now?"

Harry realised he had forgotten about the introductions during the time the two girls were upstairs and then at the apothecary, and seeing that Hermione was going to be busy greeting her family for a few more minutes, he dragged Fleur to meet his godfather and uncle. Sirius and Moony were sitting next to one of the large room's two fires watching what was going on with the Grangers.

"Hey Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, this is Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons. She is Hermione and I's teammate for the Triwizard Tournament and my betrothed, according to a contract Dad signed when I was only a few days old." He turned to Fleur. "Fleur, this is Sirius Black, my dad's best friend and my godfather, and this is Remus Lupin, another one of my father's best friends and the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor last year." Harry didn't need to mention that Sirius had been in Azkaban because Fleur was the one who helped him find the evidence that freed the man from that hell, and she was in on the story as it developed. The only reason they hadn't already met was because Fleur had been in the hospital wing when Sirius's trial was held before the Wizengamot.

Bouth of the men stood up to greet Fleur but Sirius was closer so he went first. "It's a pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle," Sirius smiled at Fleur a little suggestively, before he shook his head to clear it. "Sorry mademoiselle, my mind isn't yet as strong as it once was."

Fleur, who had looked wary at the suggestive smile, relaxed before replying. "It is no problem Mr. Black, you recovered remarkably quickly. A lot don't ever get over the allure at all. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Remus here told me how it was you who led Harry to finding the will and the evidence that James and Lily left in it so I could get my trial," Sirius said sincerely.

Remus also leaned in to shake Fleur's hand. "Nice to meet you, how are you enjoying your time in Britain?"

"The weather is dreary and it's too cold." She glanced at Harry and Hermione. "But...it has its perks."

"Complaining about the weather in casual conversation. Careful, you're already starting to sound like a Brit." Remus joked, causing Fleur to pretend to shiver in horror. They spoke for a few more minutes, with the two men asking what Fleur missed most about France apart from the weather. Fleur lamented about not being able to spend as much time with her little sister. That made sense to Harry, but it was Sirius who nodded the most in understanding.

Hermione was soon done greeting her family and dragged them over to Harry's little group. She gave Sirius one of her own rib-cracking style of hugs as she thanked him for bringing her nan to Hogsmeade. Apparently an of-age witch or wizard was allowed to reveal magic and the magical world to mundane individuals, but if the mundane person did or said anything that led to a breach of the Statute of Secrecy then the wizard or witch was legally responsible. Sirius, who felt he owed Hermione as much as Harry and Fleur, had decided to take a gamble on Jean Richards after he had talked with Dan and Emma.

Harry had already said hello to the Grangers when Hermione had run off with Fleur following, so he wasn't surprised when they focused on Fleur. Hermione pulled Fleur towards her family, which surprised Harry as Hermione had been more awkward with Fleur even just this morning. Something had changed between the two of them, and while Harry was happy for them he would be lying if he didn't admit he felt a little left out.

"Fleur, these are my parents Daniel Granger and Emma Granger, and this is my nan, my mum's mum, Jean Richards. Mum, dad, nan, this is Fleur Delacour." Hermione made the introductions. The Grangers asked Fleur where in France she was from and was surprised that they spent their summer holiday so close.

-ϟϟϟ-

That night was the first time Harry got to try Sassy's cooking and she had made Harry's recipe for shepherd's pie. Somehow the elf had recreated his recipe perfectly, a recipe that was only in his head. When he asked the elf about it, she admitted that she had visited him while he was at Privet Drive. While Dumbledore had ordered her not to interfere with Harry, as it could cause problems if a house elf was seen by a muggle, she still needed to spend some time around Harry as the wizard she was bound to, so she would pop in and remain hidden. She had watched Harry cook a few times and was able to make a number of his recipes. Harry was incensed that the headmaster had prevented his elves from contacting him but didn't want to get into a mood. It was Christmas and he was surrounded by everyone he loved (and some that he was sure he would come to love fairly soon).

The topic of discussion soon came around to their plans for the holiday. "Well Harry, tomorrow is the winter solstice and that means it's the solstice section of the Wizengamot. I need to go before the 'Mot and I need you to come with me, we shouldn't be there for too long. After that, why don't we all go Christmas shopping in London?" Sirius asked everyone, and they quickly agreed. None of them had really had an opportunity to do their Christmas shopping yet - well, Sirius and Remus had many chances, but they had waited to go with everyone else.

After dinner Hermione got the opportunity to sit down with her nan and talk. Sassy had provided them each with a large mug of hot chocolate that was topped with a foam of melted marshmallow. They were sitting on a comfortable sofa near the fire on the library floor where they could comfortably talk alone.

"So you are a witch. You can do magic? Spells, potions, flying on broomsticks, all that sort of thing?" Her nan asked her.

"Yes - well, yes to spells and potions, I don't go around flying on broomsticks." Hermione told her before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"So flying broomsticks aren't a thing?" Her nan asked, a little surprised.

"Oh no, they definitely are. The magical world even has a sport they play on broomsticks, Harry is actually really good at it. He could possibly go professional after school if he wanted though he would need to improve quite a lot if he wanted to be in a top team. No, I just don't like flying," Hermione admitted

"But you can do it, if you wanted to?" Her nan was trying to get her head around the concept.

"Yes, it's a mandatory class taught in first year. I don't know why it's taught still, brooms haven't been a part of how witches and wizards travel for about two centuries now, about the only thing brooms are used for these days is Quidditch. Oh, Quidditch is the sport."

"I can understand why wizards don't travel by flying on a stick, Sirius brought me here from the south of England in only a few minutes. First he took my hand and we were forced through a tight tunnel of some type for a few seconds, and then we were somewhere else. He said we were at his old family home in London, when we were miles away from London only a few seconds before. Then we went into the house and Sirius made a fire in the fireplace, and then it turned it green. Before I could protest, he pulled me into the fireplace, and suddenly we were shooting through the fire and we came out here. South of London to somewhere in Scotland in only a few minutes, and most of them were Sirius getting us into his family house and him telling a portrait of a crazy woman to shut up." The older woman told Hermione, before surprising her with the next question. "So how much of what you told me about Harry was a lie?"

Hermione considered the question carefully before answering. "About 20%, I guess. Mostly we tried to stick to the truth but change things to remove magic from the story. For example, in our first year I wasn't attacked by a dog like I told you. I was crying in the toilets because I was being bullied for being a swot, that's true, but it wasn't a dog that got into the school, it was a ten foot tall mountain troll. Harry did come and save me, he climbed up on it's back so he was behind its head. Harry tried to get his wand in its face so he could make a bright light in its eyes and blind it, only his wand got stuck up its nose, so he let off a burst of magic through his wand that killed the troll. It just collapsed, landing on Harry's arm and breaking it. We thought the troll was only unconscious at the time, so the two of us ran for a teacher. Only later did we learn it was dead."

"Is that why you fell for Harry, because he was your knight in shining armour?" Her nan asked with a slight wary tone in her voice.

"No, nan, Harry and I didn't start dating for over a year after that, remember? Though it did make us friends." Hermione went on to tell her nan the truth about her time at Hogwarts. Her nan was shocked at the things that had happened, though the story of Harry sitting with her and reading to Hermione while her eyes were being fixed brought a smile to the older woman.

-ϟϟϟ-

Fleur climbed into one of the expanded cupboards as she remembered her argument with Sassy, the elf words echoing in her head. "But Mistress must be sleeping in the master bedroom with her husband." Apparently, with elves they consider themselves 'married' if they form a bond with another elf, like the bonds between Harry, Hermione and herself. Part of the problem was elves didn't have marriage, they just had those with and those without a bond. Sassy had assumed it was the same for witches and wizards, and a lady shares the master bedroom with her husband if the husband was the head of the family. So naturally Sassy had put both herself and Hermione in the master bedroom with Harry.

Explaining to the elf that none of them were married yet had been difficult, but eventually the elf had understood and moved both hers and Hermione's stuff to the same apartment wardrobe that Hermione's parents and nan were using. Hermione had pouted a little at being moved from Harry's room but accepted it. Fleur collapsed onto her bed and looked around the small room. It was very bare and almost depressing, but no more so than a cheap hotel room.

As she pulled on some thick flannel pyjamas (she had given up on her more elegant sleepwear a month ago because of the Scottish winter), she considered the people she had met today. The Grangers and Ms. Richards seemed nice enough, though they were weary of the outsider who had (from their perspective) butted into their daughter's relationship. However, they were taking their cues from Hermione, and Hermione had been close to her today. She had been vulnerable after hurting her nan and Fleur had been there; with their bonds pushing them towards each other and neither fighting it, it was inevitable that some progress would be made. Now she just had to wait and see how Mione reacted tomorrow, as it was possible that she would pull away and put up more barriers between them. Fleur hoped Mione didn't do that, she had enjoyed her little outing with the English girl earlier, and was hoping for more in the near future.