L'Amour Toujour

C30: New Year's Resolutions

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters

In the days after the Ball, life returned to a semblance of normalcy in the Mansion, and none were more happy than Fleur and Hermione, who after nearly two weeks of stolen moments together finally had the time to spend some proper time together, since Fleur wouldn't open up the shop for another week.

Of course this also meant that they finally had time to sleep in again, something they took generous advantage of this morning, since Gabrielle and Luna had opted to stay in their room for the night and as Fleur woke up, she just couldn't help but press a soft kiss to her lover's neck. "Good morning, mon amour. 'ow did you sleep?"

Hermione moaned contently as she snuggled closer to the blonde. "Amazing as ever baby, but why did you wake me up so early? Now is the time we can finally sleep in again."

Fleur smiled sweetly and kissed the brunette softly. "And I have let you sleep in. It's nearly eleven, and your Mama has been by twice already to see what was keeping us."

Hermione groaned softly as she buried herself under the covers, much to the amusement of her mate, who joined her with a smile. "Is this what we're doing love, hiding away from everything and everyone?" Fleur asked softly.

"At some point we'll go and get something to eat, but mostly yes this is exactly what we're going to do today. We've had only snippets of moments together over the last two weeks and since we both loathe the cold we're going to stay here where it is warm and comfortable."

Fleur giggled and pulled the brunette back into her arms. "I can of course not deny that having you this close and in bed is everything I could ever want, but we also need to eat. I can feel, not to mention hear that you are hungry."

Hermione turned to her and gave her a mate a light glare. "Sometimes I hate how you're the voice of reason in our relationship. Can we at least stay in bed for five more minutes?"

Fleur giggled and nodded as she kissed the brunette softly. "Of course love, I don't think your mothers and aunts will mind."

Hermione just nodded as she flicked her wrist to lift the covers a little, so that they could at least breathe properly, and she just couldn't resist pressing a kiss to her lover's stiff nipple.

Fleur moaned softly and wrapped her arms around her mate. "Eager aren't we love?"

Hermione smiled and crawled on top of her lover. "Of course I am. We haven't taken the time to make love to each other the entire holiday, and I am just craving you in every single way."

Fleur smiled and kissed her. "I'm craving you too baby. My Veela has been acting up a little."

"Then fuck me Fleur. I need to feel you inside of me again. Claim me as yours again." Hermione said with a needy moan.

The blonde nodded and kissed the brunette deeply as she silently summoned her wand to her while throwing the covers off them. "Is that what you truly want, mon amour?"

"More than anything right now baby. I need you inside of me again, fucking me like it is the last time we will ever share a bed together. I'm burning for you, my flower." Hermione said softly as she started grinding against Fleur to emphasize her point.

Fleur smirked and flipped them over. "Then you will get your wish my love, and I don't intend on stopping until we are both completely sated." She said as she focused on her Veela magic to grow her dick.

Hermione moaned at the sight of the thick piece of meat now protruding from her mate's pelvis, knowing exactly what she had asked for and wanting every minute and every inch of it as she subconsciously spread her legs just a bit wider for her mate.

Fleur's eyes had slowly shifted to amber as she crawled closer to her mate, grinning almost maniacally as she lined up her magical dick with her mate's soaking pussy. "Are you ready, mon amour?" She asked huskily.

Hermione only nodded as Fleur slowly slid her cock into Hermione, making them both moan in pleasure, and she couldn't help her instinctual reaction of wrapping her legs around the blonde's waist, pulling her fully into her.

Fleur smirked and kissed her roughly. "How I've missed being inside of you, mon amour. I can honestly say that there is nothing in the world that can compare to the feeling."

"You feel amazing inside of me baby. I could very much get used to doing this every day." Hermione said softly.

Fleur grinned at her. "I wouldn't be opposed, but I will also admit that I'd miss being able to bury my face between your shapely thighs."

"I've also missed that dexterous tongue of yours baby. Perhaps that can be round two." Hermione said with a wink.

The blonde nodded and smiled at her mate. "A round two that'll have to wait until later, mon amour, because as much as we would like to stay in bed all day, at some point people will come looking for us and I'd rather not let anyone besides our sisters catch us in the act."

Hermione giggled and moaned as Fleur picked up her pace a little, but now that the initial lust had faded a little, she flipped them over using her legs that were still wrapped around her lover's waist. "Sorry love, but it was awfully bland for our doing. I don't think I've had the pleasure of riding you like this."

Fleur just smirked and let her hands roam over her mate's body. "I don't mind mon amour. That fire is one of the many reason I love you so much."

Hermione smiled and leaned down to kiss the blonde. "I love you too baby, now and forever I will love you."

The blonde smiled and kissed her lover deeply as they spent most of the morning relearning everything about each other's bodies.

…

By the time the two witches came down for what would now be a late lunch, Bellatrix and Pandora smiled at their disheveled state. "Good morning sweeties. I see that you two had a productive morning." Pandora said sweetly.

The both blushed a little as they nodded and took a seat. "It was long overdue Mummy. Two weeks of mere moments together took a toll on the both of us." Hermione said as she cuddled into her mate's side.

"We figured that might happen, hence we convinced Cissa to leave you to be this morning." Bellatrix said with a soft smile.

Fleur smiled and wrapped an arm around her mate. "Thank you Bellatrix. Usually I wouldn't want to raise Narcissa's ire, but my Veela had other ideas this morning."

The two women smiled at that. "We understand. It is why Luna and Gabrielle aren't here now. Like you two they've absconded somewhere after breakfast, and we're more than okay with anything you two may have planned for the day." Pandora said kindly.

Fleur and Hermione both nodded at that. "Thank you Mummy, but I think we got a fair bit out of our systems already. We're more than content to relax a little today. I'd say we've earned it after Christmas." Hermione said with a soft smile.

Pandora and Bellatrix grinned and nodded. "That you have, as have we all at this point. Cissa even admitted that she had gone a bit too far this year, and she has graciously agreed to letting classes commence a bit later so that we can all take a few extra days to relax."

"That's good to hear. I'll thank aunt Cissa later, because I don't think I could've paid much attention to my lessons if I didn't have the chance to reconnect with my mate a little first." Hermione said softly.

"Your aunt is very much aware of that sweetie, which is why she wants to make sure that everyone is feeling their best before the lessons start again." Bellatrix said with a sweet smile.

Both Fleur and Hermione smiled at that as the brunette crawled into her mate's lap and resting her head against her mate's shoulder and Fleur just couldn't help but press a kiss to the brunette's cheek. "Still tired, mon amour?"

Hermione nodded at her. "Yes, the Ball was more exhausting than I originally thought, and I also feel that it was less productive for some reason."

Bellatrix nodded at that. "It was, unfortunately everyone is a bit on edge because there haven't been any orders so far and until that happens we'll have to deal with doubters. I'm sure that within a month or so we'll get our final orders and we can start to plan, after that those doubters will not matter anymore. They'll have the chance to speak their mind once a new Minister is installed."

Hermione smiled at that. "I hope that is soon, but I was wondering something else, Mama. What did you say to Umbridge?"

Bellatrix grinned at her daughter. "I told her that I would be watching her very carefully for everything she's done to you last year and that if she doesn't properly apologize to you at the next meeting, that I will take my own measures. I've already talked this through with our Lord, and he agrees that the things she put you through were inexcusable, even if you weren't our daughter."

Hermione smiled and momentarily got off Fleur's lap to hug her mother. "Thank you Mama, I don't think I could've kept my composure if I had confronted her."

Bellatrix smiled and pressed a loving kiss to the top of her daughter's head, pulling the brunette into her lap at the same time. "Trust me that I also had trouble containing what I really wanted to say sweetie, but we couldn't cause such a scene with the Dark Lord present. I promise that you will get the chance to say your piece to her at the next meeting, where it will be just our family, Severus and her and then you can vent without having to hold yourself back, and I have a feeling that she will not leave that meeting with her memories intact. She has fulfilled her purpose and will only become a liability going forward."

Hermione smiled and relaxed in her mother's embrace, and by now Fleur had taken up a spot on the raven haired witch's other side, feeling that her mate needed some additional closeness.

By now Jupi had delivered a decent sized lunch to the four witches, and as Fleur and Hermione quietly ate, both Pandora and Bellatrix shared a knowing look with each other, memories of a time long past rushing back to them when they were in a similar position after their wedding.

Fleur and Hermione didn't notice since even while eating they only had eyes for each other, tuning out the rest of the world around them, a conversation visible in the looks they were giving each other.

"I know I've said it before, but it is truly as if we're looking into a mirror. They're even sitting exactly like we usually do." Pandora said softly, not wanting to break the moment.

Bellatrix nodded and pressed a kiss to the blonde's cheek. "It was to be expected, wasn't it love? From the very beginning it was said that Hermione would be my mirror image, and I think she's proven to be exactly that in the last couple of months."

Pandora just smiled and gave her lover's hand a squeeze. "We'll at least have a front row seat to our daughter's education."

Bellatrix smiled and nodded at her. "And it is something we'll ensure she will properly receive, and probably better than at Hogwarts too, because now we know the old man is not going to interfere."

Pandora nodded and cuddled into her wife's side. "That and I know you can teach our daughters about the Dark Arts and how to defend against it better then any of her teachers before this time, and I have a feeling they'll like my Herbology lessons a lot more than those of Sprout."

"That's because you're school attire is a thousand times better Mummy." Hermione said with a cheeky smile.

Pandora smiled at her daughter. "You sound an awful lot like your Mama there, Hermione. The moment she was comfortable with nudism it was hard to keep her clothes on."

Hermione just smiled at her mother as she cuddled back into Fleur, the two witches more than content to spend the afternoon with Bellatrix and Pandora.

…

When everyone sat down for dinner later that evening, Fleur thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to implement her plan of proposing to her mate, which now seemed a better time than it would have been during the ball with all of those strange eyes on them. "May I have everyone's attention please? Before we eat I have something very important to ask." She said as she kneeled down in front of Hermione. "Hermione Katerina Black, I know we haven't been together that long, but I know in my heart that there has never been another for me. Will you do me the greatest honor and become my wife?" She asked hopefully as she presented the ring.

Hermione's eyes widened as they filled with tears and for the first time in a long time since getting together with Fleur, she didn't know what to say immediately. "Yes, or course I will marry you Fleur, there is nothing that would make me happier than to be yours forever." She said after a few minutes of silence.

Fleur smiled brightly as she slipped the ring she had made and enchanted herself onto her lover's finger before standing and kissing the brunette softly. "Merci, mon amour."

Hermione smiled at her as she admired the ring while the rest of the family sat in stunned silence, none of them having expected this tonight.

Of course Luna was the first to snap out of her revelry as she came up to hug her sister. "Congratulations 'Mione."

The brunette smiled at her sister. "Thank you Lu. May I make one request of you? Will you stand beside me as my Maid of Honor?"

Luna smiled brightly and nodded. "It would be my greatest honor as your sister, Hermione."

Hermione smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of her sister's head before the two separated, giving the rest of the family a chance to congratulate them.

Bellatrix was naturally leading the charge as she gathered the two witches into her arms. "Congratulations to both of you. We knew it was only a matter of time before one of you popped the question."

Fleur smiled at her. "I intended to do it at the Ball, but in hindsight it was better that I do it now when it is just our family present."

Hermione smiled at that. "I would agree with that, because I honestly don't want to give people more ammunition against us at this point."

"Nor would I, mon amour. It would not be good to do so at this stage, and while I know we haven't had many talks about our wedding, I think our wishes are pretty similar, and I'm sure Narcissa will jump at the opportunity to help with planning."

"You would be right in that Fleur. I would be honored to help make your and Hermione's dream wedding happen." Narcissa said with clear excitement in her voice.

Hermione and Fleur smiled at that as they all took a seat again. "I would like that aunt Cissa, and it is definitely something that we will discuss in the coming months, because I think Fleur will agree that it is best if we get married after the War."

Fleur nodded and smiled at her love. "That is without question, mon amour. No one wants to deal with the stress of wedding preparations in the middle of a War, and probably then also having to deal with my mother."

Hermione's eyes widened a bit at that, since the blonde hadn't mentioned their mother in almost three months. "Did you finally get a letter back then?"

Fleur smiled and nodded. "Yes, it arrived yesterday, and she finally sees that her reaction was irrational and that she should've trusted my Veela side. She also asked for a chance to apologize to us in person. I also think that my Gran-mere had a bit of a hand in her finally opening her eyes to the truth."

"I would like that. We've always been such a close knit family that it hurt to have her dismiss us like that while she always told us how our heritage will always be more important." Gabrielle said softly.

Fleur smiled kindly at her sister. "We'll write a reply together, because I think that Gran-mere has finally gotten through to her to prompt her to reach out to us."

Gabrielle nodded and smiled at her sister. "We shouldn't wait too long with meeting with her though, because we both know that she might change her mind if we leave it alone for too long."

"She won't Gabi, not when it concerns us and our mates and especially not when Gran-mere has talked to her about her actions. I'm sure of it." Fleur said with a soft smile.

Gabrielle smiled at that. "I suppose so, I just hope she'll be willing to listen to us this time around."

"I hope so too Gabi, but it's still a bit off, since I am sure that they won't be able to come here until at least Easter." Fleur said softly.

"We'll see, first we have a proper letter to write to her, and that is something we can do in the coming days. She made us wait for months, I think she can wait a couple of days extra for our response." Gabrielle said softly.

Fleur merely smiled and nodded at her sister, knowing that she still was hurt about the way their mother had dismissed their feelings.

The rest of dinner was mostly silent, and any conversation that was had was now centered around Fleur and Hermione's engagement and future wedding, and as the family moved to the den after dinner, Luna and Gabrielle stayed close to their sisters, both of them feeling the need to cuddle with their older sisters.

"Now that we've concluded dinner, it is high time we take our usual pre-Hogwarts libation, since Draco will return to school tomorrow, and to make up for my holiday craziness, I've brought out the special wine for us to enjoy." Narcissa said with a soft smile.

"Now I'm sure the world has gone mad. We never get to have the special wine, under threat of bodily harm if we even dare look at it." Bellatrix said teasingly.

"I know, but tonight is a truly special occasion, and I want to apologize in my own way for my admittedly crazy behavior these past holidays." She said as she floated glasses to everyone and proceeded to poured the wine.

…

When Fleur and Hermione were finally back in bed that evening, now joined by their sisters, they were both very content and happy, and that left them a bit giddy too.

"And here we thought you two had gotten everything out of your system this morning." Gabrielle said with a soft smile.

Fleur smiled at her sister. "Hardly Gabi. This morning was just about sating my Veela, now we're just back to our insatiable need to touch each other, something I know you two have indulged yourselves in for most of the day too."

The two blondes smiled at that. "Of course we did. For us it always has been a while since we had the opportunity to spend some private time together, and the library gave us exactly that." Luna said with a soft smile.

"Don't tell me you've actually had sex in the library." Hermione said shocked.

Luna giggled at her. "Of course we didn't 'Mione. We know better than to defile the sanctity of a library, not to mention that we would never want to raise aunt Cissa's ire because of that. We just spent most of the day making out and cuddling, not unlike what you two did from what we've heard."

Hermione smiled at that. "I figured you wouldn't. The wording just led me to believe otherwise."

Luna smiled at that. "Words often fail me when Gabi is close by, something I've noticed you also suffer from when Fleur is close to you."

Hermione smiled as she snuggled into her fiancee. "Can you blame me for that, we've both been blessed with gorgeous mates that have the uncanny ability to shock us into silence."

"Or make you scream, because you certainly weren't silent this morning." Fleur said as she nuzzled her lover's neck.

"Neither were you love, and while I would love a repeat, we did promise our sisters to be a bit more considerate to them." Hermione said with a soft smile.

Both Luna and Gabrielle smiled at that. "You don't have deny yourselves because of us, it's wouldn't be the first time we've been witness to your intimate moments, as a matter of fact, it is something we've talked about during out time in the library. We would love to show you both that we're okay with things evolving."

"Really now? And how do you two want to show us that?" Hermione asked softly.

The two blondes smiled at them. "The obvious way of course, albeit with a bit of a twist." Gabrielle said with a grin as she gave her mate a kiss and crawled over to Hermione, while Luna crawled over to Fleur.

"We also promise to not go too far just yet. We've now got plenty of time to see how things evolve." Luna said with a soft smile.

Fleur and Hermione smiled at their sisters. "That we have, and to be honest I've been interested to see what exactly you've taught my mate and my sister over the last few months." Fleur said before she was pulled into a kiss by Luna.

The older blonde moaned softly as she wrapped her arms around Luna's waist. "I don't think I can take much credit for that, Fleur. Hermione and I didn't do an awful lot together before we came home for the summer."

"Perhaps, but she told me that before you two actually got to that point that you made her more comfortable with the idea of what you were to share, and I know her well enough to know that you doing that for her helped a lot with her accepting the mating bond we share." Fleur said sweetly.

Luna smiled at that. "Then I am very happy to have been of service to you and Hermione in that way, Fleur, and I can now honestly say without fear of hurting your sister that I have come to love you as a sister too."

Fleur smiled and kissed the blonde softly. "And I can say the same about you, and I can't wait to see how our future will unfold, especially if we get to live with Bellatrix and Pandora."

Luna smiled at that as she gave the blonde another kiss before rolling off her and cuddling into her side. "I can't wait for that either, and I'm sorry that I can't keep my promise now, but I'm really exhausted from everything that happened in the last couple of days. Is it okay if we take a rain check for tomorrow?"

"Since our sisters are already sound asleep against each other, I don't see a reason not to join them at this point. We'll talk about this tomorrow. It is long past due that the four of us sit down and talk openly about everything." Fleur said softly as she pulled Luna into her side.

Luna nodded and cuddled in close to the older Veela. "I think this is the first time we've been this close. You smell almost identical to Gabi."

Fleur giggled softly at that. "You're strangely enough not the first person to say that, and it is because ever since she was a little girl she's been borrowing my perfume, and while it annoyed me a lot when we were younger, I don't mind it anymore."

Luna smiled and nuzzled her nose in the blonde's neck, wrapping an arm around her waist as the two women joined their sisters in slumber.

…

When Luna woke up the following morning she was still cuddled close to Fleur, and not entirely surprisingly, Hermione had cuddled into her mate's side while Gabrielle had found a spot on top of her sister and she couldn't help but smile as Gabrielle grasped blindly for her hand.

She reached over the older Veela and ran her thumb over the ridge of her mate's hand, and immediately she saw a content smile appear on Gabrielle's face. "Good morning ma petite amour." Luna said with a loving smile.

Gabrielle smiled sleepily as she opened her eyes. "Good morning ma Lune."

Luna leaned up to kiss her mate softly, the movement ensuring that their sisters would also wake up. "You two are lucky we love you so much and that the sun has been up for a while." Hermione muttered as she turned into Fleur's embrace.

Both Luna and Gabrielle giggled at that as the young Veela gently rolled off her sister and cuddled back into her mate's arms. "It's not that early Hermione. Usually Narcissa would've sent someone to get us out of bed already."

The brunette muttered something inaudible as she nuzzled her nose in Fleur's neck, who by now had also woken up. "Don't be grouchy mon amour. We have all the time in the world to sleep in once everything is over. Besides we have a lot of things to talk about this morning." Fleur said sweetly.

"I know we do, I'm just not a morning person, as you well know." Hermione said softly.

"You are a lot like Mama in that sense 'Mione." Luna said teasingly.

Hermione smiled as she sat up and cuddled into Fleur again. "I've heard that a lot over the last year, and knowing what we do now, I am more than okay with being compared to Mama, since you also share a lot of characteristics with Mummy."

Luna smiled at that. "I know, and like you I am more than okay with that, but before this once again becomes a morning of us comparing ourselves to our darling mothers, we should get some breakfast and then sit down somewhere quiet so we can talk about all of this, because I think it is safe to say at this point that what we share is only going to evolve."

"That it will, and we have such conversations better on a full stomach, so let's get dressed and surprise the family with our presence at breakfast." Fleur said with a soft smile.

The girls nodded and one by one rolled out of bed to get dressed, making their way downstairs afterwards so they could have breakfast.

After breakfast and a promise to not let things escalate, since they decided to talk in the library, the four girls made their way to the comfortable spot Hermione had claimed for herself in the last couple of months, which had a magnificent view of the surrounding garden, which the brunette knew would be to the appreciation of her baby sister.

As they took a seat and cuddled up together, Fleur started off their talk. "Now before we actually start coming up with possible outcomes for the future, let me preface this with saying that no matter what happens, this will not become a four way relationship, ever."

"Of course not Fleur, you're Hermione's mate and Gabi is mine. None of us would ever want to interfere with the sanctity of a mating bond in any way, but having said that, Gabi and I have talked a lot about our own bond and we've both realized that we both feel deeper things for both of you as well, and those feelings are what we need to discuss and more importantly be honest about." Luna said kindly.

Fleur and Hermione nodded at that. "We know, and it's not like we were purposely dishonest, but we also struggle with speaking the truth about our feelings." Fleur said softly.

"We know ma sœur, but we all know that at some point skirting around the truth is going to bite someone in the butt. So perhaps today we can all be honest with how we really feel about each other." Gabrielle said with a soft smile.

Fleur smiled at her sister. "You're far to wise for your age sometimes, Gabi. You're also right. We shouldn't have to worry about opening up to each other. I also think it is safe to say that at this point we are far more comfortable to express those feelings. As sisters we've always been far closer than conventional siblings and I think now that I've had time to think about it that I've always loved you as something more than just a sister, learning that we are both mated to another set of sisters in quite similar circumstances was a bit much to process, and honestly still is. It's something that has been on my mind a lot lately and after learning of everything Hermione and Luna have been comfortable in doing together, I've come to realize that there is no shame in feeling like this. Honestly, the thing I worry about most is that we truly won't be able to live without each other's presence."

"While we will always be close, I doubt it'll evolve to those extremes. Even Luna and I, who share a part of our mother's souls need to have a semblance of privacy at times. We'd drive each other crazy otherwise, and since we both have inherited our Mama's temper, we wouldn't want a reason to fight each other. I think that when we get to building our homes, we'll find the perfect center to privacy and the need we all feel to be close." Hermione said with a soft smile.

Luna smiled at that. "We've driven each other crazy for years before we found out we were sisters, and once we learned the truth, it made sense too, there are of course still times we get on each other's nerves. We just know how to deal with those feelings by taking a few hours away from each other and more importantly, talking about it afterwards."

Fleur smiled and nodded at the blonde. "I have a feeling that communication will become a very important part of what we share going forward, but I am sure that we will able to do that between the four of us without it evolving into annoyance or worse."

Hermione smiled and pressed a kiss to her fiancee's cheek, cuddling into her even more as they talked about everything they had put off for far too long.