Chapter 9
Ginny POV
The morning following the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs was filled with nothing but excitement and talk about who would be putting their name in the Goblet of Fire. From Gryffindor, the main candidate was Angelina Johnson, who had just recently turned 17. Fred and George, outraged by the fact that they were being left out of the chance of winning the 1,000 galleon prize, were hard at work trying to figure out how to get their names submitted. There had been talk that Cedric Diggory was the front-runner to be selected as the Hogwarts Champion, and event though he wasn't in Gryffindor, Ginny couldn't help but agree that he would be great. As long as either Angelina or Cedric were chosen as Hogwarts Champion, she felt that Hogwarts would be well represented.
It turned out that the majority of the students who had arrived from the other schools were of age and would be submitting their names. Ginny wanted Viktor Krum to be selected as the Durmstrang Champion, as she would love to see him compete in just about anything after watching him during the Quidditch World Cup. For the Beauxbatons delegation, there was seemingly no front-runner that at least the Hogwarts students were aware of. The way they floated around with the same slightly smug smiles on their faces, there seemed to be no difference from one Beauxbatons student to the next. Of course, there was one exception to that, at least for Ginny and Hermione.
Ginny was initially hoping that she would be able to avoid Juliette and go on with her happy life with Demelza and her friends, but as soon as she entered the Great Hall for breakfast the day after the welcome feast, it appeared that that would not be the case. Ginny and Demelza were walking hand in hand to the Gryffindor table when Ginny heard her name. She and Demelza turned to find Juliette leaning against the Hufflepuff table, as casually and comfortable as could be.
"Good morning, little Ginny. It is so nice to be seeing you again so soon after ze Quidditch World Cup. And 'oo is zis?" Juliette strode forward confidently and took Demelza's hand in hers, kissing it. Both Demelza and Ginny were stunned.
"Uh – this is – this is Demelza, my – my girlfriend," Ginny said as strongly as she could, trying but failing to get over the shock of Juliette making contact with Demelza.
"Demelza… It is a pleasure to meet you. I trust zat little Ginny 'as been treating you well?"
Both Ginny and Demelza blushed and Demelza nodded, apparently unable to form any words.
"Why are you here?" Ginny asked firmly. "You're not of age, you can't compete, so –"
"True, I will not be competing in ze tournament. 'owever, my 'eadmistress Madame Maxime zought it would be wise to bring me as I am one of ze more well-known students to currently attend Beauxbatons. Also, I was not wanting to miss ze opportunity for 'international magical cooperation'," Juliette said as her eyes slowly raked over Demelza.
Ginny glared at Juliette while Demelza still stood in shock, merely staring at the stunning older girl.
"So, you're here to act as some sort ofminorcelebrity figure, then, is that it?" Ginny asked curtly.
"Little Ginny, 'ow kind of you to refer to me as aminorcelebrity." Juliette flashed her perfect smile at Ginny before turning to Demelza, "Little Ginny is much too kind, so good with 'er – "
"Just Ginny is fine…" Ginny said through gritted teeth.
"Ahh yes, you do seem to 'ave grown a bit since I last saw you."
Juliette now raked her eyes over Ginny's body then flicked her eyes up to Ginny's.
"And you 'ave gotten a bit taller too. You are growing up, little Ginny. Maybe in anuzzer few months you will be 'just Ginny' to me."
Juliette smirked at Ginny as it was obvious that Ginny was both embarrassed and furious at the exchange.
"Well, I am off to go use myminorcelebrity status to improve ze odds of us winning ze Triwizard Tournament. It is exhausting, being aminorcelebrity and all, but someone 'as to do it…"
With one final flash of her perfect, arrogant smile, Juliette was off. Demelza looked at Ginny, awestruck and also confused at what had just happened.
"That's Juliette?" Demelza asked, a hint of astonishment in her voice.
"Yes…" Ginny answered, again through gritted teeth.
"Ginny… She's – "
"Beautiful, I know."
"Well, yes, but I was going to say rude… I've never met someone who lacked that much humility or tact..." Demelza pursed her lips and frowned slightly as she looked at Ginny
"You sound just like Hermione."
"Ginny, is that how she treated you at the Quidditch World Cup?"
"Pretty much, yeah..."
"I'm sorry…"
"You don't have to apologize." Ginny frowned, annoyed by the entire interaction with Juliette. "You heard her, she's here to enhance the reputation of Beauxbatons. Not sure she was the right choice, but I'm sure she certainly is one of the more well-known students. Hopefully that'll keep her busy so we won't be seeing too much of her."
"Hopefully not. How about this? Next time, if there is a next time, I'll make sure I have my wits about me and I'll defend your honor?" Demelza suggested, smiling at Ginny.
"Oh yeah? You'll defend my honor, huh?" Ginny grinned back.
"Sure will! Hey, once you master the Bat-Bogey Hex you've been working on, you can teach it to me, and if she pushes too far again, I'll use it on her!"
"That wasn't far from my mind when she kissed your hand…" Ginny stated, wincing at the memory.
"I thought at first she was just being polite, but after the way she spoke to you and the way she looked us both over, it was clear she was trying to get a rise out of you…" Demelza said apologetically.
"It's alright. Let's just move on. I'm hungry." Ginny motioned to Demelza to sit down at the Gryffindor table.
"You? Hungry? What a shock, Miss Weasley," Demelza teased as they sat down and helped themselves to breakfast, quickly forgetting the interaction they'd just had with Juliette.
Throughout the day, those of age had been submitting their names to the Goblet of Fire. Angelina put her name in just moments after breakfast, Cedric apparently had submitted his name just after 4 o'clock. As 7 o'clock neared, students and staff from the three schools began to gather in the Great Hall, watching the stragglers add their names in. Ginny, Demelza, Colin, and Ritchie sat at the Gryffindor table, chatting and watching as more Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students stepped up to put their names in. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Lavender joined them right before 7 o'clock – at which point the Great Hall was packed and buzzing with the anticipation of who would be chosen to represent each school.
With one minute to go, the doors to the Great Hall opened and silence fell quickly across the room. Krum was quietly walking towards the Goblet of Fire, a piece of folded parchment in his hand. As he dropped his name in, he turned and looked at the eight Gryffindors. He stared intensely, seemingly narrowing in on Hermione, for a brief moment before walking towards the Durmstrang group and sitting down.
"Did you see that? He looked right at me!" Ron exclaimed, excitedly.
"Yeah mate, maybe he remembered you screaming his name at the Quidditch World Cup? I'm sure there was no other fan more dedicated than you there that night," Harry said, prompting the rest of the group, minus Lavender, to laugh.
"Won-Won I'm sure he was looking at you!" Lavender said protectively.
Hermione, Ginny, and Harry exchanged exhausted looks with one another. It had been one day, just one day, and they were already a bit spent on the new relationship Ron had gotten himself into.
A few more students added their names, and then Professor Dumbledore arrived. Silence fell over the room once more.
"Good evening, good evening… And now, the selection of the Champions!"
He stepped up to the Goblet of Fire, a hand outstretched. The blue flames flickered then grew, shooting out a piece of parchment. It was delicate and had intricate decorations on the edges of it. Professor Dumbledore caught it and announced: "Fleur Delacour!" A beautiful blonde girl stepped forward confidently as the Beauxbatons clapped respectfully for their Champion. Ginny saw Juliette and followed her gaze to Hermione, who again was staring the girl down. Professor Dumbledore ushered Fleur to a room outside of the Great Hall, then faced the Goblet of Fire again.
Another flare up of the blue flame, and a thick, tattered piece of parchment flew out towards his hand. He caught it and read aloud: "Viktor Krum!" The Durmstrang students clapped and stamped their feet hard as they shouted their approval of the selection as Krum slowly got to his feet and walked off to follow Fleur.
Professor Dumbledore stepped towards the Goblet of Fire for a third time, hand outstretched. The blue flame shot one last piece of parchment up and out into Professor Dumbledore's hand, and he proudly read and announced: "The Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory!" The Great Hall exploded with excitement as the Hogwarts students and staff raucously celebrated this selection. Cedric grinned and got to his feet, trying to get through the students congratulating him so he could join the other Champions.
As the three Champions left the room, the Great Hall quieted down once more, and students started to depart for their dormitories and carry on with their previous evening activities. The group of eight Gryffindors stayed seated at the table.
"Well, no surprises there!" Harry said. "Would've been nice to have a Gryffindor Champion, but I guess Cedric isn't a bad choice either."
"And we'll get to watch Krum compete! I hope he'll get to use a broom at some point!" Ron added hopefully.
"I think you're in love, Ron," Ginny teased, grinning.
"Oh, shut up! You know you're excited to see him too!" Ron defended himself.
Ginny smirked at her older brother, playfully nudging him with her elbow.
"Won-Won, can we go now?" Lavender whined.
"Uh, sure Lav, let's go. I'll see you all back at the common room?"
The new couple got up and left, Lavender clinging to Ron's arm. The six remaining Gryffindors exchanged looks, then laughed.
"Alright, anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap in the common room?" Ginny looked around at Ritchie, Colin, and Demelza, who all nodded. "Harry? Hermione?"
"I've actually got to catch up with Hagrid, but sure Ginny, when I get back, I'd be up for a game!" Harry said as he walked off in search of Hagrid.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"Why don't the four of you go? I've got a bit of light reading I want to catch up on. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Alright, goodnight, Hermione!"
Hermione POV
The four younger Gryffindors got up and started off towards Gryffindor Tower. Hermione looked after them, watching Ginny walk away from her, hand in hand with Demelza, who was excitedly chattering away to her. Just before they made it out of sight, Demelza gave Ginny a brief kiss on the cheek, and Hermione felt another small piece of her heart shatter in her chest.
"'Ello 'Ermione..."
Hermione didn't look up. She knew just by the smug tone who had sat down beside her at the Gryffindor table. She waited until the crowded Great Hall cleared out a bit more before acknowledging the voice.
"Juliette."
"Fancy seeing you 'ere..."
Hermione could hear the playful sarcasm in the girl's voice. She looked over at the Juliette, aiming to send her a look of disapproval, but was thrown off as she took in her appearance. Juliette was of course wearing the becoming uniform that the rest of the Beauxbatons girls were wearing, decked out in all light blue, but up close, Juliette was absolutely stunning. Hermione struggled to regain her breath, but as she steadied herself, she managed to speak.
"You knew you would see me again, didn't you?"
"Yes." Juliette smiled. "Once little Ginny mentioned zat you attended 'Ogwarts, I was confident zat I would see you again. Speaking of our little Ginny…" she nodded over to where Ginny and her friends had just exited the Great Hall. "I see she 'as taken to 'er revelation quite nicely."
Hermione swallowed the lump that formed in her throat at the thought of Demelza kissing Ginny's cheek.
"Tell me… 'oo is zat girl she is with?"
"She's a girl in Ginny's year. She's nice – they have a lot in common. They've been together nearly seven weeks now," Hermione stated as matter-of-factly as she could, trying to maintain her shaky composure.
Juliette leaned forward to whisper in Hermione's ear. "Mmm… I would 'ave figured zat she would 'ave wanted to be with you... Or does she not know 'ow you feel about 'er, 'Ermione?"
- CRASH -
Hermione knocked her books to the floor at both the shock of Juliette's statement and the girl being so close to her. Those nearby looked around to see where the commotion had come from, then went back to their own conversations. Hermione bent down quickly to pick up her books, but froze as she saw them floating up past her face and landing behind her, where they originally sat on the table. She looked up, and saw a wand in Juliette's hand. She got up abruptly, grabbed her books, and hurried out of the Great Hall. She was halfway to the library when she was grabbed firmly from behind and guided carefully into the nearest side corridor.
"'Ermione you did not 'ave to leave, I – " Juliette stopped when she saw tears in Hermione's eyes.
"What?!" Hermione cried out, anger flowing through as she furiously tried to stop the tears from coming in front of Juliette.
"I did not mean to upset you, I just – "
"You just what?! You're right, you know?! I do have feelings for Ginny! But it doesn't matter, because even if I was willing to allow those feelings to be known, she's with Demelza! And even if she did want me back…" Hermione paused, considering the illogicality of that big "if". "Even if she did want me, it would never work…"
"And why is zat? Why would it not work?" Juliette pushed gently.
"It just – it wouldn't. It'd be risking too much, too many relationships, too much history between me and her family… I couldn't possibly… It just wouldn't work…"
"So, what do you plan to do about zis, zen? You are content to just do nozing about your feelings?" Juliette asked, slowly closing the gap between herself and Hermione.
"Yes… I'm going to forget about the feelings I have for her, and eventually, I'm sure they'll just go away. She's with someone else, it can only be a matter of time before they're gone for good." Hermione stated as firmly as she could, her voice wavering despite her efforts.
"Mmmm."
"What?! What now?!" Hermione snapped.
Juliette swiftly, yet gently, pushed Hermione up against the stone wall of the corridor, placing one hand on the wall beside her face, and leaned forward to speak into her ear, guaranteeing that no one but Hermione could hear her.
"Would you like to 'ave some assistance in forgetting zose feelings?" Juliette whispered.
Hermione turned her head slightly so they were face to face, and looked into Juliette's sparkling hazel eyes.
"Wh-what?" Hermione stammered quietly. "Are – are you suggesting that – "
"'Ermione, why would I not want to be with a beautiful girl such as yourself? I can 'elp you forget 'er, if you want… If you would prefer, you can continue trying to unsuccessfully rid yourself of your feelings for ze girl as you 'ave been… It is up to you, but know zat I will be 'ere for you… Waiting… And very willing…"
Juliette let her last words linger in the air for just a moment, her lips so dangerously close to Hermione's they were nearly touching. Hermione's eyes flickered from Juliette's eyes down to her lips, then back up to her eyes. Then, with a small, yet noticeable, uptick in the corner of her mouth, Juliette backed away from Hermione, turned, and took a few steps down the corridor.
Hermione didn't let her get far.
Hermione took a few quick steps and grabbed Juliette by the wrist, pulling her back towards her and crashing their lips together. She put one arm around Juliette's waist, pulling her close to her, and put her other hand at the base of her head, tangling her fingers in her long silky hair. Juliette took a moment to react, but then intensified the kiss, slowly walking the two of them back against the stone wall of the corridor, again guiding Hermione against it gently, yet firmly.
They kissed deeply until Juliette broke the kiss, pulling her face back from Hermione's slightly. Hermione looked at Juliette and saw for the first time what she'd considered to be a genuine smile from her. It was almost curious, but at the same time, undeniably genuine. Juliette's eyes seemed to be searching Hermione's for the okay to kiss her again. Hermione blushed faintly before giving a small nod of approval. Juliette leaned in to kiss Hermione, and this time, it was soft and very gentle. Juliette pulled back again, and it seemed that once again she was wordlessly asking Hermione's permission to continue. Hermione gave her a another small, reassuring smile, and Juliette brought her hand up to Hermione's cheek to pull her to her. As Juliette slowly began to deepen the kiss, Hermione reacted by pulling Juliette closer to her yet, feeling as if she couldn't possibly get enough contact with the girl.
"Hermione?"
Both girls froze and Hermione whipped her head over to where the voice had called out to her. Harry was standing at the entrance to the corridor awkwardly, looking as if he'd immediately regretted interrupting the two.
Juliette looked at Hermione, stepped back, wiped the corner of Hermione's mouth with her thumb, and strode away from her. She nodded confidently at Harry as she passed, turning back to gave Hermione one last look before she exited the corridor. Harry watched her leave, but as soon as she was out of sight, turned back to focus on Hermione, giving her an amazed look. Hermione was still up against the corridor wall, breathing heavily, one hand touching her lips gently.
"Blimey Hermione… I didn't know you had it in you!" Harry declared with a tone of congratulations.
With that, Hermione ran off into the first empty classroom she could, her bottom lip trembling and tears forming in her eyes. Harry followed after her, but stopped in the doorway when he found himself face to face with the tip of Hermione's wand.
"Hermione I – "
"Don't!" Hermione's tears were freely flowing now. "Harry, just… Don't…" she said, her voice breaking.
Harry stepped towards Hermione, hands up to show he came in peace. As Hermione lowered her wand, Harry took another step forward and wrapped her up in a hug. Hermione buried her head in his neck, sobbing.
"Hermione what's wrong?" Harry asked worryingly. "Why are you so upset?"
"I… Just… This is just all so complicated…" Hermione cried into his neck.
"Hermione, what's complicated about it? From what I saw, you were kissing, and very much being kissed back by a brilliantly beautiful girl," Harry said approvingly.
"I know, but – "
"Does Ginny know? I'm sure she'd love knowing that you fancy girls too! Have you told her?"
This made Hermione stop crying immediately and look up into Harry's green eyes seriously.
"No," Hermione stated flatly. "I haven't, and I'm not going to. Neither are you."
"What? Why not?"
"I just… I don't know what this is yet. And I want to keep it to myself for now. Can you please do that? Can you keep this secret for me?"
Harry nodded. "Of course, Hermione, I just don't see why you couldn't at least tell Ginny that you fancy girls too. You don't have to tell her about Juliette…" Harry looked as if his mind was wandering away from the empty classroom and back to the alluring French witch he just saw snogging his best friend.
"Hey!" Hermione gave Harry a light slap on the arm.
"What?"
"Please… Just focus. Harry, please promise you won't tell anyone anything."
"Alright, Hermione, I promise I won't. So… Are you okay?"
"Yes… I am. Thank you, Harry."
"Can I ask you something then?"
"Of course."
"How was it?" Harry asked, a grin starting to form on his face, widening at Hermione's shocked reaction.
"Harry!"
"What? She's well fit Hermione!"
Hermione blushed at this. "Yes… I suppose she is…"
"You suppose she is?" Harry raised his eyebrows at her as he blew out a long exhale. "These Beauxbatons girls… I can't wait to see how Ron navigates them now that he's with Lavender." Harry laughed. "So really, you're sure you're alright?"
"Yes, I am. And really Harry, thank you for asking and being so good about this."
Harry smiled kindly. "You're welcome. I'm going to head up to the common room, hopefully in time for a game of Exploding Snap. Want to join?"
"I think I'm going to stay here for a bit longer. I'm fine, really, I just want some time to think is all."
"Okay… I'll see you up there?" Harry asked, hesitantly.
"Yes, I'll see you in a bit."
As Harry left the abandoned classroom, Hermione walked over to the window and pressed her forehead against it, closing her eyes to try and process what had just occurred.
As this was Hermione's first kiss, she didn't have anything else to compare it to, but it certainly felt… Well, it was passionate, yes, but also incredibly comforting… And with how Juliette carries herself, all smug and arrogant, that wasn't at all what Hermione had expected from her… She had been considerate and thoughtful and gentle… She'd stopped not once, but twice to check in with Hermione, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that if she had wanted to stop, Juliette would've immediately obliged. And that smile… That had been a genuine smile from Juliette, just for Hermione… Just for her…
Hermione stood idly in the classroom a bit longer, reflecting on what had happened this evening when doubt slowly started to set in. Suddenly, her senses came flooding back to had just snogged a girl that she barely knew, essentially a stranger, in the middle of a very public corridor. Anyone could've seen them together. Thankfully, Harry had shown up before someone else had, but was she really that uncontrollably desperate to get over her crush on Ginny that she'd snog a perfect stranger in a school corridor at night? What had she been thinking? Why had she done this?
Hermione buried her head in her hands, trying to fight back her tears.
"What is wrong with me?" she mumbled as she finally gave in and let the tears fall down her face, finally allowing herself to succumb to the weight of her feelings in the empty classroom.