Chapter Text
The front door of Hermione Granger's house slammed hard against the wall and then a bang of it being closed was heard. A blonde walked in stomping her feet and running her hands through her hair at a frustration level Hermione had never seen before.
The brunette had just prepared some cupnoodles as she was too lazy to cook and honestly she would be on vacation in a few weeks, some easy food seemed simple. The cat was also fed and very focused on his nightly bath before going to lay down with Hermione on the couch.
"I can't believe she did this!" Hermione watched intently as she stopped eating the cupnoodles she had made. The noodles were hanging from Hermione's mouth and she was absolutely taken aback by the whole thing.
Usually Fleur called or texted. She had the urge to check her cell phone, but the blonde was pacing the middle of the room and her brown eyes were following the movement. Crookshanks had his foot elevated as he was cleaning himself up, frozen looking at the blonde with wide yellow eyes. Both stopped what they were doing to pay exclusive attention to the very angry doctor. When the blue eyes focused on the brunette she hesitated only a moment.
"Uh, hi." The writer spoke with a weak awkward smile, as half of what she was eating fell back into the noodle pot. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but… What's going on?" She asked, gently placing the pot on the coffee table and turning off the television.
"I caught Yana kissing a woman!" She snapped angrily and sat down next to Hermione with a huff as she grabbed the Snoopy pillow the brunette kept there and dug her nails into the soft fabric.
"Oh…" Hermione said in shock and approached the blonde. "I'm sorry, Fleur." The brunette didn't like touching, it was something Fleur had learned with very little time of friendship. But the writer seemed to make an exception for the blonde, a very pushy woman who pushed Hermione's limits and made her accept touches she would normally hate. The brunette sighed and put her arm around the doctor. "I'm sorry…" She repeated herself awkwardly. "You didn't deserve this." She spoke softly, when she tightened her arm around the blonde, it was like a button had been pushed and she started crying.
"It's been two weeks since she told me she loved me..." The writer sighed and pressed Fleur lightly against her, whispering low words of comfort, trying to get the blonde to calm down.
Hermione wasn't the best person to be sociable, but she made an effort for a small group of people. And Fleur was one at the top of the list. The blonde was pushy about physical contact and social contact, which kind of forced Hermione out of her shell.
It took a long, long time for Hermione to calm the blonde down and when Fleur was dozing against Hermione's chest she simply pulled out her cell phone and texted the friend the two had in common. It took her a while to get there and Hermione just hoped she didn't have to deal with another breakdown until then.
"Okay bitches I made it." Pansy spoke loudly and promptly Crookshanks ran to her, tail raised and meowing. Promptly Pansy bent down to pat the orange cat. "Good cat." She spoke, smiling slightly at the cat that purred and rubbed against her.
"It's amazing what a slut he is to you." Hermione spoke as always impressed. The cat much like Hermione was a hermit without much social awareness or willingness to be sociable.
"What can I do, he knows what is good." She spoke in a playful tone and walked over, ruffling Hermione's hair who just huffed and ran a hand through her hair, fixing what the other messed up.
"It's already short hair, respect me." She mumbled, she hated when Pansy did that and it looked like the brunette really enjoyed doing it.
"Okay, tomboy." She spoke with a soft laugh when Hermione rolled her eyes hard, she then looked at Fleur. "Yana was cheating on her, hm?" She grunted and Hermione nodded. "A fucking bitch." She snorted. "You do have ice cream, right?" Again she just nodded and began running her fingers gently through Fleur's hair, who was still sleeping. "Shit, she didn't deserve this." Pansy said, looking affectionately at Fleur.
"She has a huge heart and she is so kind, and no one deserves that, Pans…" Hermione said while nodding in response and the two brunettes sighed.
Fleur wanted love, perhaps that was one of the biggest frustrations in the life of the very successful blonde doctor. Hermione considered it was because she wanted a good relationship so much, she ended up opening up too easily to people less than deserving.
Fleur was good. This was something Hermione didn't doubt at all. The blonde so easily accepted Hermione's inclusion, in fact she was so open and so receptive that not even the elusive writer had the courage to step away, she just felt captivated and orbiting around the doctor. So it was painful for Hermione to see her in such an erratic emotional state as she was. And since the two of them had known each other, Fleur had floated from new romantic hope to new frustration, but it was the first time she had been cheated during their entire friendship.
The blonde had woken up a while ago and was telling the moment she had caught her now ex-girlfriend cheating. A large part of Hermione was relieved that the blonde was angry and carrying little chance of forgiving the flagrant infraction. The vast majority of Hermione was sad that the blonde had to go through this to see Yana's true colors.
"You deserve so much more than she could give you, Fleur." She spoke dryly, especially annoyed at the way Fleur's now past relationship had unfolded. The blonde in response just snorted and grunted lightly.
"I don't know, it looks like I was made to suffer painful heartbreaks" She spoke in a mumble and then a sharp slapping sound sounded in the writer's small living room. "Auch! Why was that?" The doctor spoke with wide eyes to Pansy who was frowning and her hand raised for a second slap that quickly descended against Fleur's thigh. "Auch!" The blonde grumbled and Pansy looked at her with a stiffly pointed finger at the blonde, Hermoine in all of this was just making herself invisible, really wanting to avoid any slaps.
"You. Deserve. So. Much. More. Than. Yana. Jonoviski. Could. Ever. Give. You." She spoke in a growl. "If you come up with this talk that we're looking for love we think deserves over again I'll spank you ass you bitch." She was visibly unhappy with Fleur's pessimistic and self-sabotaging attitude. And with that the brunette nodded, she nodded quickly as Fleur sought her support.
"Will you hit me, Herms?" She asked directly to the brunette who snorted.
"Nah, but I would talk a lot in your ear, which would be worse than a spanking." She spoke with a shrug. And that made Fleur laugh lightly. "You deserve more." She spoke in a finished tone and the blonde's laughter died slightly, she sighed heavily and looked at her hands.
"I'm so angry and so ashamed… I told my whole family that I was taking my new, amazing girlfriend to Cissy's wedding. Holy shit, I'm going to be the sad spinster again." She spoke in a moan and again Hermione just stared at Pansy not knowing what to say.
"It's okay to be single..." Pansy began awkwardly. "And I'll be there at the damn wedding, I can punch your aunt if she starts to bother you." She spoke amused and it made Fleur smile slightly.
"You really need some time to work that aggressive streak of yours." Hermione spoke in an amused tone and Pansy scowled at her, which made her raise her hands in defense. “See!” Hermione spoke, pulling away as slightly as she could from Pansy and the annoyed aura she was giving off.
"Oh, she's not the problem, Pans. Cissy said Ashley is going to be there, and all I wanted to do was show her that I'm over her. The damn school girlfriend I spent 4 years with, rubbing in my face the perfect relationship with her fiancée. Which is, of course, my damn cousin Chloe." She spoke in a moan again and Hermione sighed. Fleur always had a problem with Chloe and she didn't understand exactly why, Pansy claimed she shouldn't try to understand. "It's been three years since I've been home, between my surgical residency and everything else, I was kind of avoiding going there with my bankrupt love life."
And Hermione understood that, it took Fleur five years straight after school at Oxford College to graduate as a doctor, then she had the mandatory Foundation House Officer time and then another 5 years of training to become a respected pediatric surgeon. Hermione understood. She didn't have time to go home and honestly in the last 3 years the two became friends, the brunette was happy to have Fleur for the important holidays. Even though Hermione's family was half-Jew and half-Catholic, it just kind of made for more parties. And Hermione's mom was very fond of Fleur so it was a bonus.
"So you made a point of telling everyone that you were dating and now you're not." She just stated the fact and Fleur whimpered. “Uh…” She then looked at Pansy, again without any idea of what to say.
"You can always arrange a nice date for the event." Pansy spoke and then thought. "Though it would be hard to fake a long-term relationship with someone you've only met once, since we’re bridesmaids we're going to have to stay for five weeks there, helping with the organization and all…" She was thoughtful.
"Could I hire someone to act as my partner? I know there are a lot of actors in need of work." Fleur spoke into the idea and to Hermione it sounded absurd because this was definitely a horrible idea.
"It's not a good idea." Pansy spoke and Hermione was relieved that someone had a good sense. “It would need to be someone who has known you for a while and hasn't known your family for this to be true." Fleur nodded along with Pansy’s words, and Hermione was even more horrified that the idea seemed to be taking shape in front of her and she couldn't do anything to stop it.
"So I need someone who's known me for a while but my family hasn't…" Fleur spoke in agreement and Pansy nodded.
"Because that sounds like such a smart idea." Hermione spoke and soon regretted it as the two women looked at each other for a while, and slow smiles came to both of them. They then turned to Hermione.
The brunette looked at the two with wide eyes as she was in the middle of a sip of soda. She froze and then gulped hard down the liquid. It took Hermione a second to understand what those looks meant.
"No way." She spoke with wide eyes. "No. No way. No." She continued almost panicking.
"Please Hermione?" Fleur spoke with puppy dog eyes.
"It's a great idea! You're on vacation anyway." Pansy spoke and Hermione moaned.
"That doesn't mean I want to be your damn fake girlfriend for a wedding of someone I don't know." Hermione spoke quickly and Fleur shook her head.
"No, no, it's perfect!" Fleur spoke getting up and then turned to Hermione. "Please?" She spoke again.
"No." Hermione spoke firmly, and it looked like the two of them dropped the idea, but she knew Fleur too well.
*****
"I promise to give you that Lord of the Rings book you wanted and wines and anything else you can think of." She spoke quickly and Hermione moaned in the middle of the call she was having with Fleur. She continued to tidy up the small plant that was in her mother's house, removing small dead leaves and removing the dirt from the base of the plant, thinking that her mother should take better care of the plants she had. "Please? I don't want to go through any more humiliation than I've been through with my family, everyone seems to be growing and taking root and I just feel lonely the whole time I'm there..." Fleur spoke in a tone tearfully and Hermione felt touched by the phrase and she knew it would be a very, very bad idea. But having Fleur in such an emotionally vulnerable state turned on Hermione's protective instincts and she knew it was ultimately a losing battle.
"That's a horrible idea, woman." Hermione grumbled. "I'm a terrible actress and everyone will notice." She whimpered and Fleur knew that after a week of insisting she finally broke Hermione's resolutions.
"It's free food, Hermione. I'll be in a nice dress, you can wear whatever you want, my family is fun and you work from home, nothing will interfere with your work and I'll survive it without being humiliated on top of that." She spoke amused.
"Fleur..." She spoke and she knew that if she was looking at the blonde she would be getting the best puppy dog look she could ever get and so she sighed heavily. "This is a bad idea." She grunted and knew the blonde was bouncing happily.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She spoke quickly. "I'm going to hold you tight for as long as I see you."
"Okay, I can do without it." She spoke in a growl, her cheeks flushed.
"Deal with it Hermione, we're dating now. Damn, Maman will be so happy about this." Fleur spoke and Hermione made a disgruntled sound. "I'll book a new flight for both of us!"
"This is a bad idea." Hermione grumbles as Fleur rants about the things that need to be done for the very next trip.
********
Hermione was sitting on the couch in Fleur's living room with the computer on her legs as she wrote a small draft for the next book. She was focused on the new mythological novel she was writing. She was thinking of the historical references she could use and was absolutely focused on what she was doing. She wanted company but didn't want physical contact, so when Pansy and Fleur told her they would be at the blonde's house to make a few decisions about something, she just agreed and showed up.
Crookshanks was with Hermione's family for the next month and the brunette knew that the fat-prone cat would come back obese from Hermione's parents' house. It made her sigh slightly and then mentally slap herself to get back to the focus she was having.
"Hey, pick a hand." Fleur spoke appearing out of nowhere in front of the brunette, with both hands behind her back and the writer looked confused.
"A random choice is never a wise choice, Fleur. The pros and cons need to be considered and I don't even know what I'm choosing." Hermione spoke with furrowed brows and then Pansy approached.
"She wants you to pick colors. Silver and green, which Cissy looks best on. Or Blue and gold, which are colors that match well." Pansy explained. "For the bachelorette party decoration." She spoke giving more details.
"If you have colors that look better, why a second option?" She asked the two women confusedly and Pansy made a sound of agreement and glared at Fleur.
"I told you." The other brunette sulked.
"Pick a hand." She spoke firmly to Hermione who sighed and tapped her foot on Fleur's left side. "Silver and green. See, it wasn't that hard." She rolled her eyes.
"It would be easier if there was no discussion." Pansy snapped and Hermione hid behind her computer screen. She went back to thinking about what she was writing and then strenuously tried to remember the name of a character she had created a few weeks ago during a little creative leap.
"I wouldn't be doing a good job as a bridesmaid then!" Fleur spoke loudly, moving away to the table again and Pansy sat down next to Hermione.
"So have you guys talked about kissing?" The brunette asked out of nowhere and Hermione froze in mid-writing and looked straight ahead, towards the kitchen table where Fleur was sitting.
"Uh no, why would we talk about this?" Hermione asked strangely.
"God, sometimes your lack of social skills are so weird." The brunette told the writer who blushed.
"Don't play nasty pranks with someone neuro-divergent, Pansy." Fleur scolded her firmly and Pansy mumbled an apology.
"Hermione, you guys will act like a couple, couples kiss and hold hands, hug and be affectionate with each other. Especially in Fleur's family. She's always been gross with her exes." Pansy spoke calmly.
"Uh…" Hermione hesitated and looked at Fleur and then at Pansy.
"Let's talk about this after dinner, okay?" The blonde offered kindly and Hermione nodded quickly, turning her attention back to what she was writing.
"Sorry for the joke." Pansy spoke softly and the brunette looked at her with a shrug. "Seriously, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." She spoke honestly.
"I have a low degree of autism, Pansy. I know I have problems with social interactions and I'm weird a lot of the time... But I'm not an idiot." She spoke and closed the notebook.
"I never thought you were." Pansy spoke honestly. "I'm so used to you that it just slips out of my head, I know I make jokes and make fun of everyone, but I don't want you to think that I see your autism as something to be made fun of. I just forget it exists sometimes." She spoke honestly.
"This degree is sometimes called high-functioning autism." The brunette spoke, rolling her eyes at the end. "I personally prefer it just be defined as low level autism. But yeah, being low makes me have my social weirdness and all that, but I still have an easier time with social integration, if that makes sense." She spoke calmly and her friend just nodded. Pansy was very playful, even nasty at times in her jokes, but she never disrespected Hermione, it made the writer much more comfortable talking about some things. "I don't really like it to sound capacitive, but I understand that depending on the point of comparison it's easier for someone outside the aspect to understand..." She explained with a slight smile. "It's okay, I promise." Pansy nodded and smiled.
"Fleur once told me that as an autistic, you just developed hyperfocus in writing, is that how you started writing?" She asked. "Professionally I mean." Hermione contemplated the question for a while, quickly her active brain making a little compilation of information about how she began to write.
"It started with exercises so I could express my feelings more clearly, quickly became a way of exercising my imagination and when I saw it, my therapist said it was cool that I was writing and that maybe I should write books." She spoke and shrugged. "After I devoured almost everything I could find about literary writing I felt comfortable enough to start writing." Hermione spoke thoughtfully. "It also helps with controlling my anxiety, I'm nervous about pretending to be Fleur's girlfriend..." She spoke and Pansy touched her hand gently and squeezed.
"It's gonna be okay." She assured me. "I'll be there and Fleur told Cissy about it so she won't be without support." This made Hermione nod and sigh slightly, she pulled away from Pansy and turned to fully finish writing the chapter she was focused on earlier.
*********
"So, can we talk?" Fleur spoke, approaching Hermione who was methodically washing the dinner dishes. The blonde knew the brunette was more comfortable doing these little chores, so she didn't even bother trying to stop when the writer simply informed her that she was going to handle the dishes. The doctor wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist and snuggled against the brunette's shoulder.
"Uh…" Hermione shivered slightly at the physical touch, not only because it was unexpected at the moment but also because she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation they were supposed to have. "Okay..." She spoke tinyly and then her eyes turned like small lasers to the cups she was piling on the sideboard to dry.
"I don't know how comfortable you are with kisses..." Fleur spoke honestly and Hermione was silent for a long moment. "With me, I mean..." She amended, breaking the silence. Hermione finished stacking the glasses to dry and then sighed, drying her hands and turning in Fleur's arms.
The two looked at each other for a long time. Overall Hermione didn't have many romantic relationships and she was fine with that. She preferred a deep emotional connection to just a spike in sexual desire. What didn't help was that even when Hermione was enjoying sex, she always looked for a more deep emotional connection that a one-night-stand could give. It was a little complicated and Fleur wasn't even talking about sex and she knew that as the blonde's fake girlfriend, kisses would be required at some point.
"It's okay..." She muttered and wrapped her arms around Fleur's shoulders, pulling herself into the hug. "I wouldn't say I'm uncomfortable with the idea, just a little unsure." She spoke honestly and Fleur sighed, allowing herself to melt into Hermione's arms.
The blonde had ‘broken’, so to speak, Hermione in the ways of a physically expressive friendship. It was a process, she started with little touches, then the hugs started to happen, and slowly, one step at a time, Hermione seemed to let herself relax and lower the high walls she kept around herself, exclusively for the blonde. Fleur knew it was a process for the brunette and respected the space that Hermione requested. And the two worked in their own way with each other.
"We will only do what is absolutely necessary. I can work with hugs and holding hands, I know this is a much better comfort level for you." The brunette sighed and nodded at the blonde's sentence.
"Okay…" She spoke quietly and then the blonde pulled back slightly. The two looked at each other for a long moment, even though Hermione usually avoided eye contact, she allowed herself to simply look at Fleur.
The older woman was beautiful, Hermione never questioned that fact and she quickly considered kissing the blonde. It wouldn't be all bad, they had been friends for a long time, Fleur understood Hermione on a deep level that sometimes surprised the brunette and so considering the idea of kissing the blonde didn't feel bad, just new.
Fleur's heart sped up slightly as she saw the brown eyes migrate to her lips. The brunette leaned in slightly and when the doctor thought she would be kissed there, in the middle of the kitchen of her apartment, the brunette simply kissed the blonde's cheek, closer to her mouth than usual, but it was enough for Fleur to relax and hug Hermione tight.
"Thanks for doing this." She whispered and Hermione nodded.
********
"So we're not really going to Paris? But are we going to fly there?" It had been a while since they talked in the kitchen, both were watching a cooking show, when Hermione asked about the trip.
"No, my uncle Abe will pick us up in Paris, we will have at least 4 hours by car to my family's house. They live in a nearby city." The blonde spoke with a shrug.
"Four hours by car is not nearby. You can go from London to York. From Paris to Brussels it takes less time. You go back and forth from Okayama to Kobe." She spoke as if it were obvious and the blonde looked at her curiously and she blushed. "I like maps." She muttered and the blonde nodded.
"That was fascinating." The blonde spoke honestly and Hermione smiled. "Four hours is the dividing time between medium and large surgery, for example it took me four and a half hours for a tibia fixation removal once." She spoke with a shrug.
"Oh, that's also the average time to debride a lower limb isn't it?" She asked curiously and her very active brain ran over everything she knew about surgeries. "I remember your first laparoscopic removal of an appendix took around that too." She spoke thoughtfully.
"That was one of our first conversations! How do you remember that?" Fleur asked confusedly and then sighed. "Ah, your eidetic memory." She spoke right away. "Yes, I think four hours is a lot depending on what you're comparing. For me, I can stay up to twelve hours in surgery, which makes four hours a short time." She spoke with a shrug.
"Considering that... I know I'll be bored in four hours. I can't write in the car, it makes me nauseous." She spoke with a sigh. "Possibly I'll try to sleep I think." She spoke awkwardly and Fleur smiled.
"Sounds good." She spoke softly and leaned into Hermione, leaning her head against the brunette's legs. The writer just sighed and reached for Fleur's hair, stroking the blond strands. Fleur did not fall asleep as usual, the two were silently watching television.
********
The journey from London to Paris was reasonably smooth. An hour and a half into the flight was something Hermione and her discomfort with planes handled well, she knew it was faster than a train.
"What's on your head?" Fleur asked softly as the two picked up their bags.
"That almost five hours by train would be torture." She spoke and pulled her headphones away. "I hate planes." She grunted and Fleur nodded, taking Hermione's hand gently.
"I am really sorry." She spoke honestly.
"An hour and a half is ok." She shrugged and then started pulling Fleur out of the airport. Suddenly Fleur was taken from Hermione, a tall man at least two heads taller than Fleur lifted her high by the waist.
"My little girl!" She heard the man speak loudly and squeeze Fleur tightly.
"I can't breathe, Uncle Abe." Fleur choked out and the man set her down. That's when Hermione got her first glimpse of a Delacour that wasn't Gabrielle or Fleur. Abe was tall, very tall, with a bushy beard and a wide smile. He had a few expression lines and his hair seemed to be fading slowly. It was so thin and Hermione wondered if the man had any slight degree of baldness. But whatever consideration the brunette was having was quickly cut off when the man's green eyes focused on her.
"Is this the mystery girlfriend?" He asked seriously and Fleur nodded.
"Uncle Abe, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is my uncle, Aberlin. But we call him Abe." She introduced her gently and Hermione held out her hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Mister Dela-" Speech was promptly cut off when Hermione found herself in a tight embrace. The young woman's heart sped up quickly and she held her breath, trying to contain her shock and a possible anxiety attack. But just as quickly as it started, Abe released her.
"It's so good to see my little princess happy! Welcome to the family, Hermione!" He spoke receptively and Hermione smiled awkwardly. "Come on, let's go, we have a long car journey and it's still early." He spoke smiling broadly and grabbed the bags with impressive ease. Fleur just approached Hermione and hooked her arm with the brunette's.
"All right?" She asked whispering against the brunette's ear, Hermione felt goose bumps and nodded quickly.
"If you want to take a nap, I know we are an hour apart and it's still eight o'clock in the morning." He spoke with a wide smile and the two women got into the passenger seat of Abe's truck.
To Hermione's relief she stayed close to the door, and Fleur between her and Abe, which made the brunette that much more comfortable with being able to take a nap. Abe promptly placed the bags in the back of the truck and moved into the driver's seat.
They left Paris and started traveling towards the countryside. The Delacour family lived in a small town called Volles, very close to Geneva. As far as Hermione recalled, Geneva was less than an hour away. The jolting of the car quickly made Hermione bored and sleep began to overtake the brunette. She really wasn't a morning creature, preferring to stay up late rather than wake up early. And even though she had forced herself to sleep at nine pm the night before, her body was discontented and it was a rather bad night's sleep.
She felt herself drifting off to sleep and leaning into the blonde beside her, she quickly snuggled against Fleur's neck and allowed herself to sleep. Part of her remembered that she and Fleur were supposed to be girlfriends so it was pretty acceptable.
********
"Hermione, we're here." Fleur's awakening was gentle and the brunette was grateful for it, she had simply slept against the blonde for four hours.
"Sorry, I totally slept on you." She grunted, pulling away and rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, I slept too, don't worry." Fleur smiled and Hermione sighed thinking it was unfair for a newly awakened Fleur to look as good as she was now. The brunette simply ran her hands through her hair, grateful for the short cut she kept, but knowing that the front of her hair was possibly messed up. "Not bad. But… Here..." The blonde said, turning to Hermione and smoothing some messy strands of hair. "You look great." She spoke gently and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Compared to a normal human being or to you?" She spoke in a playful tone and Fleur pushed Hermione lightly.
"Silly." The blonde spoke, smiling softly and her cheeks a little flushed. With that, the two got out of the car and Hermione promptly pulled up the backpack that had been left at her feet. As ok as she was with the trip, she didn't want the computer she used for work to be in the back of the truck. With her backpack on her back she moved to help Abe with the bags.
"Allow me to help, sir." She spoke politely and Abe promptly dismissed her.
"It's all right." He spoke with a wide smile and suddenly a shriek cut short the conversation between the two. A short woman with braided blond hair and a flowered dress began to walk quickly towards Fleur. She promptly grabbed the young woman by the cheeks making Fleur lean forward slightly to accommodate the height difference that was almost a head. The blonde was kissed on both cheeks and then hugged tight.
"My girl is back home!" Hermione recognized Apoline from the only short time she saw her. The two French started talking quickly and Hermione felt slightly out of place. Until the doctor walked away and took her mother by the hand.
"Maman, this is Hermione." She spoke with a sweet tone when referring to the brunette.
"Nice to meet you ma'am. Thank you for having me." Hermione spoke in her best politeness and Apoline smiled.
"We met once, didn't we? You were helping Fleur move into her new apartment, if I'm not mistaken you were responsible for organizing the books." She spoke honestly and Hermione blushed slightly, remembering how her mania had made her rearrange Fleur's books at least four times before settling for literary style and alphabetical order.
"Uh, yeah. She gave me a tough assignment." Hermione spoke and looked at Fleur who smiled and then to the ground;
"My books have never been so organized." The blonde chuckled, Hermione's eyes narrowed in an attempt to understand whether it was sarcasm or not. Apoline smiled at their exchange and pulled Hermione into a gentle hug.
"Thanks for taking care of my girl." She spoke honestly against Hermione and the brunette gulped, just nodding.
"Any time." The brunette spoke honestly, and it was true, she would take care of Fleur whenever she was allowed to.
"Come on, let's go inside." She then began to guide the two girls inside. "Abe! Put the bags in the garage! Fleur will be in the old room." She spoke firmly and Abe mumbled something but moved into the garage without further ado.
"Where is everyone?" Fleur asked as she walked into the kitchen and Hermione considered for a moment why the kitchen was always the busiest place in a house. She momentarily debated the reasons and smiled as she concluded it was the proximity to the food.
"Your sister is at the store with your aunt. Your cousins haven't arrived yet, your brother had the indecency of getting a low grade and has a test tomorrow. Gabby is helping him with the math he can't learn." She grunted and started making a sandwich for the two of them. "Sit down." She ordered firmly and Hermione promptly complied, taking the first chair she found. This made Fleur look with frowning eyebrows and the brunette shrug and smile awkwardly. The blonde then moved closer to Hermione and sat down next to the brunette.
Mother and daughter continued talking and Hermione was more than happy to be invisible where she was sitting. She had left her backpack beside the chair she was in and sighed when the blonde brought her hand to hers, the doctor's fingers slipped through hers.
They were served with a latte and a sandwich and Hermione, who wasn't too hungry, found herself obligatorily eating what was offered. She would never deny food offered to her, with the exception of squid. She hated squid. This made her grimace in disgust.
"What was that face?" Fleur asked with a giggle.
"Don't make me eat squid." She spoke in a whimper and the blonde was slightly confused where that had come from, but she just nodded.
"Don't worry, I don't like squid either." She spoke in an attempt to relax Hermione, which worked, as the brunette sighed and nodded, going back to eating the bread crusts. Fleur had long accepted that Hermione would eat the crumb of the bread first, leaving the crusts that became dry and crunchy last. The brunette had a duality with the texture and even though she liked it, she preferred to leave it last.
"Girls, arrange your things in your room, ok? More people will arrive soon and it will get more complex. Especially with the girls on the team arriving in a few hours." Apoline spoke and Fleur nodded, finishing the coffee. Hermione, as she usually did, took Fleur's plate and the blonde's mug, moving to the sink ready to organize the dishes. "What? No. Get out of my kitchen." Apoline spoke firmly and with a smile on her face when Hermione blinked in confusion.
"It's fast..." She whimpered, having the dishes taken from her hands and placed in the sink.
"No. Go." Apoline spoke smiling broadly and moved her hand to dismiss Hermione away. "Take your girlfriend to the bedroom." She spoke to her daughter who just smiled and pulled Hermione by the hand.
"But the dirty dishes..." The brunette whimpered looking over her shoulder and sighed discontent as Fleur grabbed her backpack and pulled the brunette to the garage.
"We're in my old room, on top of the garage." She spoke as she reached out and grabbed a pair of keys that were stuck to the top of the door, she unlocked the door and walked in, followed by Hermione.
The brunette looked at the car in the garage. She saw Fleur smooth her hand over the hood of the car and sigh with what the brunette could only identify as homesickness. The red Maverick was in great condition and even though Hermione had little interest in cars, she had learned a lot from Dionisio.
"It's a 74’, right?" Hermione asked, feeling compelled to break the sad look that was on Fleur.
"Yes, my dad left it for me..." She spoke softly and the brunette tilted her head to the side. If there was one feeling she struggled to understand it was grief, when Hermione's paternal grandmother passed away, it was the first time the young woman experienced grief and it was confusing. She knew it was painful and approached Fleur, pulling her into a hug. Which surprised the blonde, as Hermione rarely gave full hugs like that.
"I am really sorry." She spoke not sure what to say and ran her hands over the blonde's back. A short time later Fleur walked away, taking Hermione's hand and pulling her along the narrow stairs that led to the top of the garage. "Why do you sleep in the garage?" She asked the blonde confused.
"One of my few achievements during my teenage years was being able to stay in the garage." She spoke with a shrug. "I always liked the room I had there and after a while my dad built me a bathroom and I moved in." She spoke with a light laugh and Hermione sighed as she saw the blonde's childhood room for the first time.
It was a cute room, Fleur's taste for blue had probably come from far, for what Hermione noticed. Since the quilt of the bed was blue as were the curtains. There was a desk which Hermione quickly took to herself, placing her backpack on top.
Fleur smiled and let the brunette organize the setup to work. She moved to the wardrobe which was reasonably empty and began to empty her own suitcase, leaving space for Hermione to store her own clothes.
The room had a fluffy rug and lots of pictures on the wall behind the bed. Hermione smiled when she saw a teenage version of Fleur and Pansy, cuddling with several other girls. She approached that particular photo that caught her eye.
"These are the triplets." Fleur spoke, approaching from behind Hermione and leaning on the young woman's shoulder. "This is Bellatrix, the oldest of the three, followed by Andromeda and then Narcissa." She pointed to a woman with wavy black hair, then to one very similar to the first one only her hair was light brown and then to Narcissa who was blonde. The three were very beautiful, even though Cissa was the most different of the three. "Then we have Pansy." She pointed to the brunette who had hardly changed over the years. "We have Angelina." She pointed to a very tall, black, slender-bodied woman. "Then me and my sisters." She recognized Gabrielle, and saw Fleur’s older sister, she smiled slightly. "The terrible eight of the volleyball team." She spoke amused. "Angelina and Gabby were from the year before ours." Hermione nodded and looked slightly smirking at the eight girls wearing jock jackets and smiling happily. “Here we have Chloe, my cousin. And then we have Mirian, and the sisters Natasha and Yelena.” She pointed to the other three. The first one had dark brown hair and brown eyes, a sweet smile and was the smallest of the bunch. Natasha had dark red hair and green eyes, a little taller than her sister. Yelena had honey-colored hair and green eyes, she was almost as small as Mirian.
"It seems like a good group." Hermione spoke honestly not understanding much about Volleyball, she made a mental note to study the rules so she could at least understand how it all happened. She muttered to herself about how athletic they were and it made Fleur smile.
"We're all friends to this day. I am not that close to Chloe as I was in the past… But hey, organize your side of the wardrobe." She nudged Hermione lightly and the brunette put the photo back in place, sighing and then turned back to her suitcase.
If there was one thing she liked less than packing bags, it was unpacking. But they were going to be practically five weeks there until the wedding, so it would be fitting for them to straighten everything out. Then she obediently began to organize things inside the wardrobe.
Fleur tidied the bathroom with her personal items and then flopped back onto the bed. She saw that Hermione was debating which drawer to put each thing in and the blonde simply gave the brunette room to have the process she needed to go through to make decisions. Hermione considered the pros and cons of leaving her panties in the top or bottom drawer, it took a while for the young woman's mind to consider a decision and she then put the clothes in the places she chose.
Fleur knew it was Hermione's thing, the brunette could make quick decisions if necessary, but she preferred to have a list of criteria that made her feel comfortable with the choices made. The blonde liked to ask for restaurant opinions or new dishes to try, the brunette always had a considerable list of options and chose what seemed to best match the criteria of the moment that Fleur would have.
The bedroom door opening with a bang made Hermione nearly jump out of her own skin and look like a scared cat at the sudden movement. Fleur, much more versed in the sudden movements of an emergency room, just raised her head to see what was happening.
"Little Flower!" The voice of an unknown person rang out loud and Hermione just saw someone throwing themselves at Fleur with force. The brunette spun in her spot and quickly heard loud, wet kissing sounds begin to sound.
"GET OFF ME, BLACK!" Fleur sounded displeased but laughed shortly thereafter, which made Hermione just watch. She heard a giggle and saw a woman she associated as Andromeda, just watching the two of them rolling around on the bed.
"At least we learned the bed is still strong." She spoke to the two women. "Stop kissing and make out there, I want to say hi to Fleur too, Bella." Andy spoke, approaching and grabbing her sister by the belt and pulling her hard out of the blonde. With that the older sister just grunted and let Fleur get up. She and Andy promptly hugged each other tight.
Bellatrix was taller than Andy but not much, with thick, curly black hair. Her eyes were dark green and her lips were tinged with cherry red lipstick. The woman wore a pair of blue jeans, boots, and a tight-fitting shirt. Andromeda on the other hand looked a little more delicate, wearing a pair of sandals, a swirly green dress and on her head a tiara holding the wavy brown hair out of her face. Hermione considered the chances that they were natural triplets. One in two hundred million, she remembered and concluded that it was possibly artificial insemination.
"I missed you guys!" Fleur spoke up and pulled Bella close by the collar of her shirt, giving her a group hug. "Where's Cissy?" She asked, pulling away and smiling widely looking at the door.
"The queen is coming." Bella spoke amusedly as everyone heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Hermione just leaned her back against the wardrobe in her usual pattern of staying invisible as much as she could.
When Narcissa entered the room the first person she saw was Hermione, the two looked at each other and then the blonde's blue eyes turned to Fleur. The steady gaze she received from the woman promptly melted into a wide smile.
Narcissa was thin, that was the first thing Hermione's mind pointed out. Skinny as a runway model who on some level was starving. But she considered that the blonde looked very healthy and with a more clinical look she concluded that the woman's metabolism must be very fast. She was thin and tall, with a much smaller bust than her two sisters and long hair and blue eyes. Very different from Andy's browns or Bella's greens. And also a more pale tone than Fleur's. She wore a white dress shirt with red flower details on the cuffs and collar. A dress skirt and she was wearing a pair of platform shoes, which made her even taller. Hermione also noticed the flashy engagement ring, with a large blue stone and smaller diamonds around it, on some level that ring looked familiar to her.
She approached Fleur and both Andy and Bella let their two best friends hug.
"Cissa!' The doctor spoke loudly and pressed the other one against her, “I missed you so much!” She spoke happily.
"It's not our fault you moved to another country." Narcissa spoke as she walked away and looked at Fleur fondly. "It's great to see you. You are beautiful as always." This made Hermione smile slightly and then she turned back towards the stairs. "Lucius, come here to meet my best friend." Hermione looked up quizzically, she saw Narcissa's fiancé come up the stairs and looked surprised at who he was.
"Lucy?" Hermione's voice sounded shocked and it was the first time all eyes in the room had focused on Hermione. Including Lucius.
"Mony?" He spoke in surprise and then grinned, quickly approaching Hermione and pulling her into a tight hug. It was the first time Fleur had seen the writer actually hug a man who wasn't one of her brothers or her father. "What are you doing here?" He asked with a wide smile and Hermione pulled away slightly.
"You are getting married !" She spoke in a loud tone and Fleur smiled.
"Guys, this is my girlfriend Hermione." Lucius' eyes gleamed in understanding and he smiled. Bella and Andy just looked at each other and walked closer, greeting Hermione still uncertain.
"Lucius, this is Fleur." Narcissa introduced and Lucius and Fleur exchanged smiles and greetings.
"I HAVE ARRIVED BITCHES!" Pansy's voice broke the moment in the room and Hermione looked all confused, she shivered a bit with the loud tone and sighed.
"Uh, I'm going to unpack my stuff in the bathroom." Hermione spoke softly, feeling uncomfortable with the number of people in that small room. She grabbed the bag that held her things and shut herself in the bathroom. She overheard a lot of conversations for a while and allowed herself to sit on the toilet waiting for everything to settle down. A soft knock on the door made her look at the slowly opening door.
"It's all safe now." Fleur spoke gently and Hermione nodded, moving out of the bathroom.
"Sorry, I'm trying to prepare myself for your family reunion without me having a nervous breakdown with the number of people and voices." She spoke softly and Fleur nodded, smiling comfortingly.
"It's okay. Shall we go downstairs or do you need more time?" She asked gently and held out her hand. Hermione sighed slightly and took the offered hand. They walked into the kitchen which was almost overly noisy. The brunette mentally prepared herself and let herself be pulled. She saw that there were more people than before and she recognized Gabby, who promptly walked over to say hello.
"Who would guess you two would end up dating!" She spoke loudly, which caused everyone in the kitchen to stare at Fleur and Hermione in silence. The brunette felt herself blush and instinctively took a step closer to Fleur. The blonde smiled and put her arm over Hermione's shoulder. "Who am I kidding, you two have been walking in circles forever." She spoke and approached Hermione, kissing the brunette's cheek. "Welcome to the family!" She spoke out loud.
She was introduced to Fleur's aunt Florence, who was very like Fleur, with her long blonde hair and soft and gentle blue eyes. She also was introduced to Hugh, Florence’s husband. A tall man with red hair and a neatly trimmed beard, he had kind brown eyes and hands calloused from what Hermione assumed was heavy manual labor. But she grabbed the hand he offered and got a smile in return. Hermione met the grandmother and matriarch of the Delacour family, Josie.
Josie, or Josephine as she introduced herself, was a taller lady than Fleur's mother, with white hair that should have been blond. Her eyes were the same shade as Fleur's and her smile was very similar to Gabby's. She was wearing a simple purple T-shirt and shorts with flip-flops. She smiled broadly at Hermione and nodded approvingly at the middle granddaughter.
After chatting with Josie for a while, Hermione was finally introduced to Fleur's older sister. The older one had darker hair, an almost brownish blond, and had green eyes. She was tall, thin and visibly athletic. Fleur once commented that she was a police officer, which explained the athletic body and inquisitive look Hermione received.
"Anaïs Delacour, a pleasure." The woman spoke, smiling. "You can call me Ana."
"Hermione Granger." She spoke softly. "I will guess Pansy has already made all the jokes possible and imaginable, hasn't she?" She was amused and Ana just laughed.
"For a lifetime." She spoke of fun.
"Hey Ass!" As if she had been summoned, Pansy walked into the kitchen with an eight-year-old boy in her arms. "I kidnapped a pest!" She spoke amusedly and the little boy squirmed and grinned.
"Did you practice your sign language, Fleur?" Gabby asked her older sister as she nodded slightly. Everyone was watching the child trying to get away from Pansy at all costs.
"You didn't tell me your brother was deaf." Hermione spoke quickly and Fleur smiled at her.
"He's not, but he goes to a school that offers this learning experience and he enjoyed learning any communication means." She informed and Hermione nodded.
"Fleur!" The little boy's voice rang out loud and he let go of Pansy, throwing himself against his sister who promptly hugged him tight.
"God, you've grown so much!" She spoke in an honest surprise and Hermione smiled at that. She was the youngest of the Granger children. "Hermione, this is my little brother Thierence, or Thierry as he likes to be called." Hermione looked at the boy and promptly raised her hands, signaling quickly.
"It's nice to meet you Thierry, I'm Hermione. But if you prefer you can call me Herm." Fleur looked at it in surprise and the boy made a loud sound of glee and promptly hugged Hermione tight around the waist.
"It's so nice to meet you!" He spoke loudly and Hermione shivered, bringing her hands to his hair. Fleur knew the brunette was making a lot of effort to be touched so often and she was grateful for Hermione's visible desire to be polite and friendly to everyone there.
"Same of the same, comrade." She spoke playful and he laughed in amusement. Suddenly everyone started talking loudly and Hermione frowned, trying to concentrate on what the child was saying to her, but it was visibly difficult for everyone to hear each other as they tried to subdue the voice of the other speaking louder. And it wasn't just Hermione who was annoyed, as Apoline turned to face everyone with her hands on her hips and a towel slung over her shoulder.
"Everyone out of my kitchen! This is looking like a damn seven-square-foot apartment." Apoline spoke and began to shake the dish towel. "I organized the damn yard, get out of here." She grunted and promptly everyone but Grandma Delacour headed out of the kitchen.
"Do you know sign language?" It was Narcissa who asked, and Hermione dared to say she sounded impressed.
"My paternal grandfather was born deaf as was my uncle Harold." She spoke as if that was the best possible explanation and Fleur looked surprised.
"I did not know that." She spoke in surprise and then Lucius pulled Hermione towards him.
"Come on Mony, let's get a drink!" He spoke loudly and dragged Hermione away from Fleur.
"She looks nice." Andy said looking at Hermione who was looking in disgust at a beer Lucius offered, pulling a can of juice towards her.
"I think the hair is very masculine." Bella spoke up being just contrarian and Andy rolled her eyes.
"It's not the 12th century, Bellatrix. I think it looks good on her. Don’t be an unnecessary jerk." Bella huffed and Fleur chuckled lightly.
"Ever since I've known her she has always had her hair short and shaved on the sides, I think it has become usual for me." The blonde spoke amusedly and shrugged.
Bella, always being the leader of the pack, began to guide the sisters and Fleur to where Hermione was talking to Lucius.
Hermione found herself being dragged along without much of a choice, Lucius shoved a beer into her hand and she looked at the man with furrowed brows and disgust for the beer.
"Definitely not." She spoke, bending down and taking a grape juice. "Do you know about…?" She asked, pointing to herself.
"That you and Fleur are faking?" He asked. "Cissa told me." He nodded. "But if it's worth anything, I think you guys would make a cute couple." He spoke smiling.
"We are friends, Lucy." She said and he snorted his friend's sentence and nodded.
"If you say so." He spoke smiling and it was her turn to snort. "Changing the subject..." He continued as he saw the group of women approaching them.
"Where do you know each other from?" Narcissa asked, approaching the man and leaning against him. Lucius just grinned and put his arm around the bride.
"Mony and I studied together most of our childhood." He spoke smiling wide. "We lost contact when I moved to France." He shrugged. "But now she's part of the family." He was amused and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I punched a boy in the face on account of Lucy." She spoke and Fleur turned to her and looked surprised.
"You don't have an aggressive bone in your body." She spoke surprised and confused.
"Adult Hermione doesn't have it, little Hermione couldn't handle the sensory stimuli and got mad at a boy who was making noise while tormenting Lucy." She spoke with a shrug. "I punched the kid and that one over there stuck to me like a damn stray dog." She told the man who just chuckled and ran his hands through his long blond hair that was flapping in the middle of his back.
Lucius had changed little over the years if Hermione would notice. His hair had grown longer, what used to hit his shoulders, were longer. He still had the piercings in his ears, as well as the earrings. But the one that was in the eyebrow and the septum’s one were gone. He didn't change his outfit much either, a little more formal than before, he was wearing black pants, which still had a chain attached from the front pocket to one of the belt loops. He wore a dark purple shirt with skull buttons on his booted feet like he liked to wear during school. Lucius was still the same metal boy Hermione remembered well.
"I was always charming." He spoke and winked at Hermione. "We've been study partners for practically our entire academic life." He spoke, smiling wide. "She loves me." This made the brunette roll her eyes and huff.
"I tolerate you." But the smile Hermione had on her lips let Fleur know that the brunette was just kidding.
Fleur approached Hermione and smiled widely at her talking to Lucius. What was funny was that the man was taller than Hermione but visibly the one coordinating the conversation was the writer. This made Fleur consider how deep their friendship was, as Lucius with the exception of a few touches wasn't as tactile with Hermione.
She saw that the brunette looked at her a few times, and the blonde just smiled knowing she was assessing the comfort level. But the doctor was comfortable, no one who was reasonably problematic had arrived yet.
The brunette smiled at the blonde lightly and held out her hand in a gentle invitation for her to come closer. Fleur, unsure whether the brunette was offering a hug or to hold hands, she only took Hermione's hand. What surprised her is that the brunette pulled the blonde lightly against her, wrapping her arms around Fleur's waist.
"Are you okay?" The brunette asked softly against her ear, worried about the prolonged silence Fleur was having. The blonde smiled softly at the concerned question and nodded.
"Yeah, it's just good to be with everyone." This made the writer smile and surprisingly lean over and lightly kiss Fleur's temple.
"I'm always glad to see you happy." The brunette chirped and Fleur's eyes widened slightly at the almost brutal honesty that dripped from the sentence. She was about to comment on something, but Andy called her attention to talk and the blonde's surprise was quickly put down.
Hermione was very fond of Lucius, however much she denied it. The man was a great support throughout the school and especially a good friend. He was the one who held Hermione when she had anxiety attacks, he was also the bad example that made Hermione smoke weed for the first time. Something the brunette hated and said that if she saw Lucius smoking she would hit him.
It was Hermione who drove the blonde's drunk ass home and was the man who took Hermione to the most underground shows possible for them to listen to metal and punk. The friendship between the two was a little unrepeatable, especially for Hermione's family who found the boy strange for the first time. But they fit well.
The writer took rock and metal shows as a way to get used to the exposure of loud sounds. Which worked out well since she liked the songs. Exposure therapy, as she called it, helped Hermione to become more tolerable of sounds and crowds. And maybe that was what was making her cope so well with how tactile Fleur's family was.
More than once one of the sisters, or Fleur's aunt or even mother, approached her, touching her shoulders and pulling her into gentle hugs. As much as Hermione understood that it was a very normal and socially acceptable form of expression, she still felt somewhat aware of touches like that. The brunette kind of put herself back in the same experience as the shows, exposure therapy, she said herself. But Lucius, noticing that she was getting uncomfortable, just smiled wide.
"Ladies, I'm going to steal my childhood friend and we're going to gossip like good little girls." He spoke winking at Narcissa who just chuckled lightly and leaned in, pecking Lucius' lips. "Come on, Mony. Let your girlfriend go and come on." He spoke laughing and turned to start walking. Hermione looked at Fleur and then at Lucius.
"Go with him, I'll be good." Fleur gave the permission she needed as she didn't want to leave the blonde alone. After all, she was there to help pretend to be Fleur's girlfriend.
The brunette nodded and then started walking towards the direction Lucius was going, she saw that he was sitting on an old wooden bench that was bound by ropes, she saw a swing close to where they were. The man saw her approaching and knocked twice on the bench beside him.
"Come on Mony, I know you want some peace of mind and I can't take so much female talk in my ear." He said laughing and she rolled her eyes but nodded silently taking a seat beside him.
Lucius and Hermione sat in silence for a long time. The brunette was content to feel the cool afternoon air against her and took a deep breath feeling slightly relaxed. She liked that about the man, he had that insight into their friendship. Lucius always knew when Hermione needed space and time in silence, he especially provided for this without feeling forced to cover the quiet with an unwanted subject.
"It's good to have you back." He spoke softly and smiled when she looked at him.
"It's good." She spoke, smiling slightly and looking at the ground.
Hermione couldn't pinpoint exactly how or why the two walked away. She considered that academic life became a little too busy and they were too focused on their own things and ended up leaving details, not so small, aside.
Lucius moved to France to become a head chef and Hermione remained in London. They kept in touch the first year, but when the brunette exploded as an author, life became more hectic. She had to deliver drafts, he had to focus on his studies and little by little they drifted away. Nonsense if Hermione considered it now, Lucius was one of the writer's oldest friends and one of the few she liked.
"We shall not let that happen again, okay?" She spoke softly and he smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders and briefly squeezing the brunette against him.
"No we won't." He spoke with satisfaction and then looked at the party while he moved back to his position. "But hey, I think your girlfriend needs rescuing. Ashley just found her." He pointed to a blonde woman who was talking to a very uncomfortable Fleur.
The blonde was standing just looking at the whole family when she felt someone approaching, at first she thought it might be Hermione, but seeing her ex-girlfriend with an amused smile on her lips she knew it was trouble.
"I heard you're dating seriously enough to bring the person here." She spoke in a slightly mocking tone and Fleur gulped and snorted. “Who would have guessed?”
"Yes, I'm dating." She spoke as if it were obvious and the woman in front of her just snorted in disbelief. Whatever Ashley was about to say was promptly cut off by Hermione approaching with a wide smile.
"Babe, there you are." She spoke in a loving tone that almost made Fleur's eyes widen, but what surprised the woman even more was that the brunette walked over, rubbed her hand gently against Fleur's cheek and leaned in, gently kissing the blonde's lips.