Work Text:
Mate.
Fleur promptly choked on her mouthful of bouillabaisse as her Veela crowed in happiness finding its one true match. Her little sister, Gabrielle, patted her back swiftly, looking alarmed.
“Fleur, are you alright? 'ere, 'ere’s some water, or pumpkin juice. It’s a liquid either way,” Gabrielle rambled anxiously as her smaller hands tipped the nearest pitcher to fill her sister’s cup. Some of the other Beauxbatons girls watched their champion’s coughing fit with concern as Fleur was usually so put together and neat.
With a polite pat to her chest, Fleur cleared her throat and quickly sipped from her cup. She waved away the concerns and batted away Gabrielle’s hands. She blinked a few times and dabbed her napkin to her mouth and corners of her eyes before she answered her sister sheepishly.
“Thank you, Gabrielle, I am fine. The soup went down the wrong way, but I am okay now. Thank you for the pumpkin juice.”
“Are you sure you’re alright? Your face went all red right before you started coughing. It looked like you were zoned out; you were staring at the Gryffindor table for a while.”
“Yes, I am fine, I promise. Something just startled me.”
“Fleur…,”
Fleur braced herself as her little sister suddenly got a searching look on her face as she stared up at her older sister, as if trying to solve a puzzle.
“Is it something family-related ?”
“What? No. We just received a letter from Maman the other day.”
“Fleur. Not our parents,” Gabrielle glanced around at their part of the long table. Thankfully, there was a decent amount of space between the two of them and the other students, but Gabrielle leaned in slightly and lowered her voice, “Something to do with our people ?”
“No, of course not. Why would you think that?”
Gabrielle shot her an unimpressed look and Fleur felt herself shrink under the expression on her sister’s face. It was a rare moment when Fleur felt truly chastised by her little sister.
“Because your feathers just appeared at the back of your neck and I can feel your excitement, Fleur.”
Fleur’s face heated up as she clapped a hand to the back of her neck and immediately felt the downy feathers just under her hair. She glanced around quickly to make sure no one else was watching her erratic behavior. A couple of the other Veela girls looked in her direction but otherwise didn’t make a move towards her, only making sure everything was alright before going back to their own dinners. She snuck a peek over at the Gryffindor table and as luck would have it, she made eye contact with her .
Hermione Granger.
The Brightest Witch of Her Age, according to the chatter in the halls. One of the Golden Trio, and the one who more often than not saved Harry Potter in one way or another.
And probably one of the hardest people to get to know.
Fleur couldn’t tell if Hermione was avoiding her or if she just tended to keep to herself, but from the first moment she laid eyes on the girl, Fleur desperately wanted to talk to her. She didn’t even know why exactly at the time, but something about Hermione’s aura just drew Fleur in like a moth to a flame.
Fleur just about gagged at the cliched thought but unfortunately could not say it was inaccurate with how she felt.
The Veela tore herself away from gawking at her mate and quickly gathered her things, “There may have been something , but I’m not confirming or anything 'ere in the Great ‘all. If you want to keep badgering me, you can come back to the carriages with me, Gabrielle. Otherwise, I will say goodnight.”
Truthfully, she wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to, especially her little sister. As much as Gabrielle and Fleur butted heads as siblings were wont to do, siblings within a Veela flock were incredibly close and dedicated to one another. The phenomenon experienced between non-Veela twins such as a near-psychic link and unspoken twin language was the norm for any Veela siblings. Twin Veelas were incredibly rare, so much so they were only mentioned in lore passed down through the flocks. Humans would think Fleur was an attentive, if not slightly overbearing, older sister, but what they didn’t know was that it was reciprocated and Gabrielle had her own way of looking after, and out, for Fleur.
So it was no surprise to Fleur when Gabrielle lit up and collected her things as well to leave with her sister. They bid their schoolmates goodnight, and left the Great Hall. And if Fleur could feel eyes on her retreating form, she didn’t let it show, but she could feel Gabrielle’s excitement as her emotions were on full display for her sister to experience. Fleur shifted her things into on arm and with the free arm used it to shepherd her sister faster out the castle. The sooner she told her sister, the sooner Gabrielle would calm down and act more normally in public, and hopefully not spill the proverbial beans about Fleur’s newfound mate, especially to the other Veela in their group.
Fleur shuddered at the thought of the other girls finding out. She blanched at the thought of the news getting back to her Maman and Papa before she could even tell Hermione.
_____________________________________________
"Miss Delacour, your task today is to work on your accuracy and hunting skills while in your Veela form,” Madame Maxime clearly instructed her champion, “You are to take flight and find a creature the size of a standard dog or smaller. Your goals are to: locate your target, capture your target without causing any bodily harm to it with your talons, and return with the target to us within the class period.”
The Beauxbatons headmistress stood on the green outside of the gates to Hogwarts. A small group of the older year girls were with Fleur to support her as they were from the same flock of Veela, and they had created a semi-circle facing their school’s Triwizard champion and flock member. Amongst the group was Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle, who was practically vibrating in excitement to see her sister train in her full Veela form. Back home Gabrielle only saw Fleur training on rare occasions as the older Veela trained in a private field so the Veela could focus on the task at hand. Younger Veela like Gabrielle were kept away until they were of age and had gained their wings, so getting to accompany her older sister to Hogwarts and seeing her properly train was a rare treat.
“Oui, Madame,” Fleur dipped her head respectfully. She rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms out quickly. She had already stretched earlier but for whatever reason, both her and her Veela were feeling especially antsy though she was unsure why considering she had completed plenty of similar trainings such as this both at Beauxbatons and with her flock back home.
Seeming to sense her sister’s unusually high nerves, Gabrielle stepped up to her side and slipped her arms around her waist, “You’re going to be so great, Fleur. Your Veela is so strong and the best flier in the family,” At Fleur’s surprised expression, Gabrielle quickly amended, “Except grandmere, of course. But still! You can do this in your sleep!”
Fleur smiled lovingly down at her little sister and placed her hand on top of Gabrielle’s head, gently petting the flyaways back into place, “Thank you, ma petite soeur. I needed that. Now, go stand with the others, and watch this,” Fleur gave her a soft push towards the group with a nod at her classmate, Chloe, a fellow flock member and Fleur’s childhood friend, who placed a comforting hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder and nodded back at Fleur. With a newfound confidence thanks to her sister, Fleur winked at Gabrielle and effortlessly transformed into her Veela form, taking to the skies.
Fleur took a long warm up lap around the perimeter of the school grounds, both to stretch her wings out and to brainstorm where she might like to find her target. The weather was surprisingly warm that day; the sun was bright and the sky was clear. It was the perfect day for a flight and Fleur closed her eyes momentarily to enjoy the feeling of the sun on her feathers and the wind in her face.
She flew towards the Forbidden Forest and kept an ear out for any movement. Unfortunately for Fleur, the only noises she heard were clearly from larger creatures in the forest. She heard a large herd of centaurs, a smaller herd of thestrals, and an alarming number of acromantulas, which she steered well clear from. She wanted to have a successful training, but she wasn’t that desperate to nab a magical spider. She had plenty of time to find a better target. After one last sweep, Fleur decided to try her luck elsewhere.
As she flew over the castle, her eyes picked up some gentle splashing coming from the Black Lake.
The second trial has to do with the Black Lake, maybe this will be a good time as any to see what lives in it besides the Giant Squid every student here seems to be at least moderately scared of.
Curiosity piqued, Fleur banked to the left and flew over the front of the school, hearing Gabrielle let out an excited cheer seeing her sister in training-mode. Fleur let out a loud cry in response and heard her sister’s enthusiasm skyrocket.
Satisfied, Fleur focused back on her task as the shoreline quickly approached. The surface of the water was still but Fleur’s eyesight allowed her to see past the murky surface of the Black Lake. She mostly saw loads of seaweed and way too many grindylows. She saw the dark form of a kelpie zip by and immediately nixed that idea, not feeling like being drowned that day. The closer she got to the deepest part of the lake, the harder it got to see into the depths. A few selkies had swam by, but Fleur loved selkies and didn’t want to anger them accidentally just to complete an assignment.
With a sigh Fleur gained altitude once more hoping to see or hear the splashing sound once more. She hadn’t explored the far end of the lake, so she held out hope she’d find something promising there.
As she neared the closest thing to a beach Hogwarts had to offer, her ears picked up a soft splashing sound again. With a quick glance down, Fleur saw an otter of all things floating alone on its back.
Strange, I didn’t know otters lived at Hogwarts. And this one is all alone… With a buoy? Oh, maybe it’s stuck and got tired trying to free itself. I’ll bring it back with me and when I release it, Madame and I can check it for injuries and free it.
Fleur nodded to herself now that she had a plan in place and prepared herself for the retrieval.
Secure but not too tight. Fast enough to get back in a timely manner but not so fast I hurt the poor thing. Okay, easy as can be. At least I should be able to calm the otter.
As a magical creature, Veela had a natural affinity towards other magical and non-magical creatures alike. It wasn’t so much being able to speak to the other creatures, but Veela could soothe and befriend them easily. At some point, a muggle or two may have seen this happen and the stories about fair maidens taming wild beasts became a common story told to children.
Alright, here I come little otter, don’t be afraid, I just need to nab you for a non-violent class and I need to borrow you for a moment. You will be released quickly and safely, I assure you, okay? So in three… two… one…
Fleur descended and with a quick stretch of her legs, caught the brown otter by its leg, and began the ascent into the sky heading back to her class. She quickly noticed the otter was wriggling around, clearly panicking.
It’s okay, sweetie. I promise I’m not hunting you for food.
The otter continued to wriggle, so much so Fleur became concerned why the otter wasn’t reacting to the Veela magic.
All creatures are able to respond to our powers. Well except humans who can turn into creatures, but that would be crazy. Hogwarts is a school, no student would have that knowledge unless the otter was in fact a professor (which would be horrifying if that were the case), or an incredibly smart student… Oh my god. Oh fuck. Oh my god. No, it can’t be. This cannot be happening right now.
“Hey… I really hope you can sort of understand me.”
Holy shit.
The last thing Fleur had expected was for the otter to suddenly be speaking to her, and the absolute last thing on top of that was for said otter to not only be speaking but to confirm Fleur’s worst fears that this otter was in fact her mate, the smartest witch at Hogwarts, the Brighest Witch of Her Age, Hermione fucking Granger.
In all of the excitement, Fleur had a brief lapse in judgment and froze. Unfortunately, she was mid-flight and freezing in mid-air caused an immediate drop. She quickly righted herself and her precious cargo, and added a small burst of speed towards her destination.
Shit, fuck, dammit. Do not drop your godforsaken mate, Fleur Isabelle Delacour. The flock will never let me live this down anyway, let alone if I drop my mate on top of fucking kidnapping her.
Fleur stewed in embarrassment and attempted to cobble together a plan and thorough explanation for both Hermione and Madame when they arrived in a few moments.
Okay, okay. I’ll just pretend I didn’t immediately recognize Hermione’s voice, and I’ll tell Madame Maxime an… abridged version of what actually happened. But I definitely need to grovel a bit at Hermione. Oh god, I hope she doesn’t hate me.
The front lawn quickly approached and Fleur felt a mixture of nervous anticipation and, strangely, some excitement of all things. Awkward explanations and apologizes aside, Fleur was looking forward to actually speaking to her mate for the first time. Plus, since Hermione was Fleur’s mate, there was a near guarantee she would be forgiven at some point, and they would laugh about this crazy meeting some day. Together, happily mated, maybe with a fledgling or two running around…
Alright, calm down, Casanova. Get through this apology first. Happily Ever After, later. Maybe we can have dinner together while Beauxbatons is still at Hogwarts for this insane tournament. I’d much rather compete knowing my mate was cheering for me than anyone else. Barring Gabrielle, of course.
Fleur shook her head sharply. She needed to focus so she could land softly and not injure or scare her mate.
Well, scare her any more than I already have…
With a quick exhale, Fleur threw her wings out to slow her descent. She beat her wings a few times slowly, and quickly spotted the softest patch of grass she could find to place her mate. Because Fleur didn’t have her legs to use as part of her braking and landing mechanism, she had to be careful not to accidentally use Hermione’s otter form as a landing pad for the both of them. Instead, Fleur had to choose a slightly less graceful and painless method, and leaned further back, nearly sitting on the ground as the grass quickly came in contact with her body. Her wings beat a few more times to slow down further still. At the last moment, Fleur righted herself and gently released Hermione to fly up a couple feet over the ground to transform back into her human body.
Madame Maxime let Fleur’s classmates clap for their champion and Gabrielle sidled up to her sister to quickly hug Fleur around the waist, practically glowing with pride. Fleur gave her little sister a loving squeeze before looking up at her headmistress to begin explaining what had transpired during her assignment.
“Madame, there’s something you should know…,”
Madame Maxime stepped closer to Fleur and angled her body so there was some privacy for the two to talk. She looked down at her student and nodded for Fleur to continue.
“That otter I caught… She’s, uh, she’s not just an otter. She’s a ‘ogwarts student. And I know who she is, as well. She partially transformed after I caught her. I don’t think she knew what or who I was when I captured her, so she was just ‘oping I could understand her. But when she spoke, I knew immediately who I had accidentally, er, caught…,” Fleur knew she sounded as ineloquent as ever. Her grandmother would be so horrified to hear her granddaughter sound so unsure of herself. But in her defense, it wasn’t everyday she kidnapped her mate in broad daylight on school grounds.
“Go on, Miss Delacour. You say she is a student ‘ere at ‘ogwarts, no? Are you worried her family will be angry? Is her family of pure-blood? I am aware that blood purity is of utmost importance here more so than back home.”
Fleur greatly appreciated her headmistress for letting Fleur explain at her own pace, and was not immediately taking action.
“No, no, it is nothing like that, Madame. The other day, in the Great ‘all…,” Fleur glanced over her shoulder, both to check how close her sister and classmates were to her, and to ensure Hermione had not disappeared. Thankfully, she found the Beauxbaton girls to be a respectful couple of yards away speaking amongst themselves quietly, and she saw Hermione still in her otter form, albeit slightly more agitated and clearly trying to map out an escape route. She turned back to Madame and just cut to the chase.
“The other day, in the Great ‘all, my Veela discovered her to be my mate.”
Madame Maxime inhaled sharply. She looked between Fleur and Hermione, and back to Fleur, before a smile overtook the headmistress’s features.
“Congratulations, ma fille ! That is wonderful news,” Madame’s face quickly became serious with maternal care for her charge, “Do not worry, Fleur. You have plenty of time to apologize to her and explain everything. I will take the girls with me and give you two some privacy.” The giantess turned slightly to look down at the otter who was watching the two anxiously. Fleur watched Madame Maxime relax her stature somewhat as she appeared to include Hermione in her next statement, speaking clearly and slowly in English for the animagus, “We will see you in the Great ‘all for dinner, Fleur.”
With that, Madame gathered her students quickly with a simple clap of her hands and the group immediately approached to follow their headmistress’s orders. The woman turned without another word to begin the walk back to the castle.
Fleur let out a relieved breath. She turned to speak to Hermione, finally, but was quickly intercepted when Gabrielle appeared to wish to remain with Fleur.
“Gabrielle, go with the rest.”
Fleur hoped her tone would convey her desperation to speak with Hermione privately. At the very least, she hoped Gabrielle would pick up on her emotions through their bond.
Her sister hesitated, seemingly catching on to her sister’s need to be alone, but took the chance to speak directly to the animagus, “You’re from ‘ogwarts, yes?”
The two Veela watched the animagus clearly nod.
This seemed to spur Gabrielle on, “My sister didn’t mean it. She’d never attack another student or creature on purpose. She wasn’t ‘unting you; it was just training,”
Fleur felt pride bloom as her little sister defended her without even knowing this animagus was Hermione. But she needed to speak to Hermione before dinner, and therefore needed Gabrielle to return to the group sooner rather than later. She cleared her throat sharply and made a fast cutting motion with her hand, which made her sister quieten quickly.
Fleur spoke rapidly in French to her sister for some semblance of privacy, “Thank you, sister, for your quick defense of my actions. But I need to speak with her alone before dinner tonight. Please join the rest of the girls, and I will see you in the Great Hall in a bit, alright?”
Fleur glanced over Gabrielle’s head and saw her group had paused their walk, to collectively watch and wait for their youngest classmate. She placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder and gave it a warm squeeze.
“I will always defend my sister. I will rejoin the group, but I want to hear everything when you come in for dinner.”
Gabrielle left no room for argument, and Fleur wasn’t going to deny her sister anyway. She smiled softly at her sister when Gabrielle gave her a sharp nod but her eyes betrayed her obvious excitement to know more later. Fleur had a feeling Gabrielle was able to read something across their bond, and wasn't going to let it go until she got some answers.
She turned on her heel and ran back to the group. Fleur couldn't help but smile at the automatic protection her fellow flock members provided for their youngest Veela; they herded her little sister into the middle of their group so she was completely surrounded by older and stronger Veela.
Fleur turned back to her current predicament, and current gift from the goddess, and found her mate to be thinking quite hard. She knew her mate must be panicking, but Fleur couldn’t help but find her thinking face as an otter was incredibly cute. She had seen Hermione study before in the library, and somehow she had the same exact expression in her animagus form as she did in her human form.
Fleur debated crouching or remaining to stand as she wasn’t sure which would calm Hermione more. She decided to stand and simply attempt to look as non-threatening as possible, “I apologize. I did not mean to scare you. Gabrielle was correct, Madame Maxime asked us to work in both our ‘uman forms and our Veela forms for those of us who are, er, that.”
Fleur stumbled through her very much unrehearsed apology. She caught herself wringing her hands nervously, shook them out quickly, and wiped them on her pants as she realized her hands had become clammy.
“Since I am the champion for my school, Madame 'as 'ad me train even more than usual to stay sharp for the challenges. I was supposed to retrieve a small creature without 'arming it, of course, and bring it back. Veela do not eat creatures, as we are creatures ourselves, so I swear to you, you were never in danger of being… eaten,” Fleur felt her face heat up as her mind went in an incredibly inappropriate direction.
Merlin’s Beard, Delacour, get a fucking grip. Get your mind out of the bloody gutter, and focus on calming your incredibly scared mate.
“All of this to say, I am so sorry for what ‘appened. Are you injured? Do you need my ‘elp? May I approach you?”
Fleur watched Hermione tense slightly for a moment but slowly relaxed. Her tail had finally ceased whipping back and forth, and her eyes had stopped rapidly checking every exit route. The Veela took this as a good sign and slowly lowered herself into a crouch. She watched the otter carefully for any signs of distress; her Veela reached out in the hopes of sensing her mate’s more subtle emotions.
Okay, okay, I can work with anxiety, curiosity, and… Oh my god, she’s starting to trust me a bit! Okay, yes, good. I haven’t completely ruined this. Okay, I’ll let her come to me after I take a step towards her; I can show her that I trust her to not run away or attack me.
Fleur carefully stepped towards the otter. After two steps, Fleur paused and with her hand outstretched in front of her, she let Hermione decide what to do next. She tried to be as open as possible given the situation, and only hoped Hermione could give her a chance. She slowed her breathing and kept her eyes on her mate’s.
Joy rushed through her as she watched the otter slowly begin its approach towards her. The joy turned into elation as contact was finally made and Hermione’s otterhead bumped up against Fleur’s hand. Fleur couldn’t contain her excitement and smiled brightly down at her mate, gladdened by the trust shown towards her.
Hermione crawled a bit closer towards Fleur, the bright orange buoy dragging along behind her and slightly impeding smooth movement. Fleur’s initial observation of her mate’s form up close calmed her significantly as she saw no lacerations or puncture marks from her own talons. Now she just needed to make sure she hadn’t inadvertently pulled her mate’s muscles in the leg she had grabbed, or any possible soreness from the buoy being attached to her ankle and most likely hitting her during the flight between the lake and the lawn.
The Veela’s hands moved quickly and methodically over Hermione’s form, but Fleur relished the feeling of her mate’s silky fur and hoped at some point to be able to run her fingers over the coat in a much more relaxing setting in the future. As her hands moved across the otter’s back, she felt rather than heard a low rumble beneath her fingertips. After a few more seconds, Fleur realized what the rumbling was; Hermione wasn’t growling at her, she was purring. Fleur’s Veela preened at the unconscious reaction of its mate and Fleur let out a soft laugh, “I am glad to know I am not ‘urting you,” she said, a content smile on her face as Hermione turned to look up at her, almost questioningly.
“Because you are purring and not growling or trying to bite me.” Fleur explained as she finished her check up on the animagus. Her smile dropped however when she realized the relaxing rumble had cut off. Hermione had turned her head partially away from Fleur, but her Veela could sense flashes of embarrassment and contentment coming from her mate.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Fleur tried apologizing again. “Your purring was nice. And your coat is incredibly soft–” She cut herself off before she could compliment her mate even more. “Anyway, it appears you are un’armed. I am pleased to see that I did not even scratch you with my talons, even when you… um… surprised me mid-flight. I’m sorry again for all of this. I was so focused on my task I didn’t even register that you don’t really feel like an animal to my Veela. Otherwise, I would have let you be.”
Fleur paused to collect her thoughts. On the one hand, Veela were an incredibly secretive and protective species, and for good reason. But on the other hand, her Veela had recognized Hermione to be her mate, so at some point she would have had to explain things more anyway eventually.
I will tell her more. Not everything, of course, but enough to assuage any remaining fears she may still have from our rather memorable meeting this afternoon.
“Since Veela are magical creatures, we can generally sense other creatures around us. Everyone ‘as a magical signature, except non-magical creatures and muggles. You as a witch and an animagus makes it very clear that you are not a regular anything, but as I say, I was so focused on catching, um, you, I didn’t think,” Fleur felt a new wave of shame wash over her as she realized not only had she not been paying close enough attention, that same inattention led her to scaring the one person who was meant to be her life-partner. She would have of course felt badly if it had been anybody else but to attack, even pseudo-attack, one’s mate as a Veela was unimaginable and reprehensible.
Fleur felt her eyes misting but she blinked rapidly to prevent any tears from forming because she knew if she got herself too worked up, this would be even more of a mess than it already had been. She quickly refocused and feigned checking Hermione once more with a cursory glance when she suddenly remembered she hadn’t acknowledged the buoy still attached to the otter’s ankle.
“Oh, would you like me to untie your…floatation device? Wait, you’re an otter, you don’t need ‘elp to float. Anchor?” Hermione nodded twice, and Fleur quickly unbuckled the strap around Hermione’s leg. She watched the animagus stretch out her newly-freed leg, which in turns led to a full-body stretch that ended with a gigantic yawn. Fleur had to school her expression to not gush at the absurdly cute image that had been created in front of her.
“It’s getting late. We should get back into the castle for dinner. Would you like to walk back with me? You’re more than welcome to sit with me, um, and my sister, if–if you’d like,” Fleur lost her composure as she realized there was a very real possibility that Hermione would not only not wish to walk back and have dinner, but would in fact not wish to be anywhere remotely close to the Beauxbatons champion for the remainder of the tournament after everything that had happened.
The Frenchwoman felt her hope crumble as the otter ducked out from under her hand, and her smile fell.
Stupid girl, of course she doesn’t want anything to do with you after all of this. How stu–
Oh.
Her self-deprecating thoughts cut off as the animagus had given her hand a quick bump with her snout and rumbled with a warm purr. Fleur’s Veela preened at the knowledge that she had such a thoughtful mate, even when she didn’t even know Fleur was her mate. Hermione let out a happy chirrup and Fleur couldn’t help but smile at the sweet gesture.
This time, the otter backed up slowly and Fleur took a step back as well, realizing Hermione was going to transform back to her human body. Excitement and trepidation filled Fleur, knowing she’d finally be able to speak to her mate properly and be so insanely close to her in just a few moments. She felt mildly reassured when her Veela felt an echo of nerves coming from her mate; it seemed both of them were feeling similar things together.
Fleur’s eyes didn’t leave the animagus in front of her, and so she saw what appeared to be a few distinctive inhales and exhales before the river otter squeezed its eyes closed and then suddenly Fleur was staring at her very human-looking mate.
Oh fuck me, she’s even prettier up close. Her skin looks so soft, and her hair has so many different colors shining in the sunlight. I want to run my fingers through that forever.
Fleur released a sharp exhale as she realized she had been holding her breath. The last thing she needed was to pass out in front of Hermione.
Hell of a story if I did pass out, though: first, I kidnapped her out of the blue, next, I passed out before I could talk to her properly. Veela for generations to come will cringe in secondhand-embarrassment.
“Um, hello. I’m Hermione. Hermione Granger,” Hermione broke the silence first and offered her hand to shake, and Fleur loved the sound of her mate’s voice already, and her politeness won so many brownie points in Fleur’s books.
Oh, Maman and Papa are going to adore her.
Fleur cleared her throat quickly and smiled brightly before she reached out to shake her hand. She found her mate’s hand to be soft and warm; her mate had a confident handshake that belied the clear nerves the Veela could read from her mate’s magical core.
“You are ‘arry’s friend, no? I’ve seen you and a red-’aired boy with him,” Fleur felt it best to play ignorant for now so as not to accidentally scare her mate with her observations. She at least had the benefit of having a mate who was already somewhat famous by proxy thanks to the Boy Who Lived and fellow Triwizard Champion.
“Yes, that’s right. Ron and I are Harry’s friends. I didn’t realize you knew who his friends were,” Hermione replied but seemed confused why Fleur would even know that much about her.
The Veela was somewhat stumped by how her incredible mate could be questioning how Fleur could know even the basics about her. Her mate, who experienced life-threatening events every year so far at Hogwarts and was still somehow managing to remain at the top of her class while keeping herself, her friends, and the school at large alive and well.
“Your brains are well-known around your school, it is only natural that I became aware of you. Being ‘arry’s friend is just an added bonus,” Fleur shrugged it off, but she had to hold herself back from gushing over her mate’s accomplishments, and mildly chastising her for getting into such dangerous situations at such a young age. If Fleur had any say, she would have Hermione transfer to Beauxbatons immediately and personally protect her.
“Oh, where are my manners? I am Fleur Delacour, but you probably already gathered that from when I was talking to you while you were an otter…,” Fleur punctuated her introduction with a quick bob of her head, and immediately wanted to smack herself in the head as her mouth kept going without her brain’s input. Her confidence and attempted suaveness petered out into a weak ramble. Before the Frenchwoman could really stick her foot in it to cover up her nervous bumbling, she held her tongue as she saw her mate’s warm smile for the first time.
Thank the goddess above, my mate doesn’t think I’m a disaster.
“It’s lovely to meet you formally, Fleur.” Hermione replied, and Fleur fell in love with her mate’s indulgent smile and open expression.
“Would you like to return to the castle now? Maybe join me for dinner, please?” Fleur offered but she didn’t want to pressure the witch and even went so far as to angle her body so she wasn’t inadvertently blocking Hermione’s path to the castle, should she decide she didn’t wish to walk or dine with Fleur that evening and instead needed space to think.
I might cry a bit if she doesn’t want to walk with me or have dinner with me tonight, but today has been a lot and she deserves the space to decide how we proceed. I doubt she even feels the connection as a human, so I cannot and will not hold it against her. I can go as slowly as she needs; court her appropriately at a human pace and–
“Yes, let’s head back. I need to find Harry and Ron first though, they’re probably wondering where I disappeared to. I was only supposed to be out on the lake for an hour or so between classes…,” The flare of hope in Fleur’s chest died a bit as her mate mentioned Harry and Ron. She didn’t have anything against Harry or the Weasley boy, but she had really hoped her first dinner with her mate would be more private. Before she could wallow too long, Hermione stepped forward and grasped her wrist without thinking, and Fleur had to stop herself from sprouting feathers at the soft touch of her mate’s hand holding her wrist.
“But I’d love to eat dinner with you. I have so many questions about you being a Veela, and I can tell you about my animagus… If, if you had any questions or, or wanted to know anything about, um, that. We don’t have to talk about either of those things if you don’t want to, of course! Uh,”
Fleur fell a little bit more in love with her mate as the Englishwoman turned sheepish and a lovely pink flush spread across her cheeks as she got visibly excited at the prospect of learning something new.
Not to fluff my own feathers, but of course my mate would be considered the Brightest Witch of Her Age and be ravenous for knowledge and intellectual conversation.
“I would like nothing more than to talk to you about my people, Hermione,” Fleur made a point to say her mate’s name correctly. The English language could be so fickle with those ‘H’s but come hell or highwater, Fleur was going to be able to at least say the bloody ‘H’ in her mate’s name. “I would also love to ‘ear more about your animagus. I understand that this form of magic is quite advanced. It is impressive ‘ow smoothly you shifted, especially the partial-shift while you were scared. But let us speak more of this over dinner. Shall we?”
With a burst of confidence, probably coming directly from her grandmere, if the elder Veela had any say in this, Fleur corrected her posture and offered her elbow to Hermione as only was proper for the one initiating the courting of another. After a beat, her mate stepped into her side and slid her hand into the crook of Fleur’s elbow. The Veela felt her chest puff out a bit and her magical core thrummed in contentment and pride having such an incredible witch on her arm.
I can’t wait to ask her to the Yule Ball.
The two slowly began their return to the castle in silence, content to just be close to one another. Fleur could feel her mate’s serenity with happiness and hope humming just under the surface.
“I ‘ope I am not being presumptuous by saying this, but I look forward to getting to know you better this year while Beauxbatons is ‘ere for the rest of the tournament. I also wish for this dinner to be the first of many meals shared, Hermione,” Fleur admitted quietly, suddenly nervous. Nervous to speak too loudly, to share her hopes to start learning more about her mate and telling her mate about herself.
Fleur felt a warm squeeze and looked over at Hermione who was smiling so sweetly, and it took everything within Fleur to not kiss her mate and tell her everything right then and there.
“The feeling is entirely mutual, Fleur.”
Hermione’s agreement was further emphasized by the strong pulsations of earnestness and eagerness through her magical core and Fleur could do nothing more than smile brightly back at the animagus, hoping her emotions may possibly be felt across the mating bond. But for now, she was just content knowing Hermione wanted to share a meal with her tonight.