Work Text:
Fleur felt for her fellow Beauxbatons students. Several of them had left their soulmates to come here, to Hogwarts, and with a Yule Ball, they would either have to go alone, or pretend to enjoy themselves with someone else. And after finding your soulmate, nothing else would do.
Or so Fleur was told.
It wasn't even that she hadn't met her soulmate yet. She had. Her name had been burned into her wrist since birth, and Fleur had managed to say hello to Hermione Granger shortly after she'd arrived. The Ravenclaw house had been eager to tell the Beauxbatons students all about the past three years they'd had. Stories of Harry Potter, and the horrors they'd dealt with.
Harry Potter and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
It was simple to say hello when she'd seen her in the hall, shortly after the chaos of Fleur being chosen as a Champion. Fleur was confused. Hermione must have noticed Fleur's name was on her wrist, so why had she rolled her eyes at Fleur? She'd tried her hardest to make her “hello” into something flirty and friendly at the same time, so why hadn't it worked?
But no, the younger girl had turned aside, a “hullo,” barely slipping out of her lips as she moved to walk in the opposite direction of Fleur. Her best friend, Anna, gave her a sympathetic pat on her shoulder, and Fleur pursed her lips. Fine. Being soulmates didn't mean that things would always be easy. She'd seen enough soulmates in her time to know.
–
Things had only gotten tougher as time went on.
Fleur had only been trying to help when she'd asked to speak to Hermione alone. She'd found out about the first task, and she thought that if she told Hermione, who could tell Harry, that perhaps she would earn the younger girl's trust.
But Hermione had turned her down, saying that she and Harry had to study. Harry had shot her a friendly wave, before walking away with Hermione. Their friend, Ron, offered to go speak alone with Fleur in Hermione's place, but Fleur turned him down as nicely as possible.
Fleur sighed and shook her head. She wasn't sure what she was doing wrong, but it had to be something. Shaking her head, she turned to find some of the Ravenclaw girls she knew, and to see if they could figure out the problem.
–
Fleur was frustrated. None of her friends could figure out what she was doing wrong. Hermione had started responding to her, but never in anything more than several syllables, before walking away.
It was exasperating. Especially when she would see couples together in the halls. Not only was that a problem, but so was trying to figure out the Second Task. She had finally realized that it would require being underwater for an hour, but now she had to decide how, exactly, she was going to do that.
Hermione occasionally caught her eye, curling up at a table or in a window seat with another large book. More and more Hermione smiled, casually, in her direction, until one day Fleur gained up the courage to wave at the girl.
The subsequent smile and wave made Fleur's heart beat faster. It was definitely a good sign. Still, she wouldn't rush things. She put her head back in her book, struggling to decipher the English textbook that she needed to comprehend for a test the next day. Her English was good, but some of the book was very old and dry.
She was interrupted only twice by potential suitors, most likely due to her Veela blood, but she turned them down with a carefully placed few words. Maybe before she'd found her soulmate, she might even have found one or two of them pleasant.
Pleasant, but not nearly as attractive and interesting as Hermione was and seemed to be. Now, if only she could get the girl to have a conversation with her.
–
Fleur was ready to scream. All she heard about was the Yule Ball. It had even taken priority over finding a good spell and plan for the Second Task. Her Beauxbatons classmates had been a mix of sad and intrigued. Some were worried; they had yet to find their soulmate, and didn't want to go alone. Those students were the easiest for Fleur to try to reassure. After all, thers were plenty of people there that didn't have their soulmate yet, so they would have plenty of choices.
But those like Fleur, who knew who their soulmate was, well, all Fleur could do was commiserate. She had barely had more than four conversations with Hermione, and as every day passed, Fleur got more and more concerned that Hermione would choose someone else as her Yule date.
Finally, seeing Hermione enter the library, she forced herself to work up the nerve. She shut her book when she caught Hermione's eye, and walked right over to sit next to her. “Hermione, I think we need to talk.”
“We are talking,” Hermione said.
“About our soulmate marks,” Fleur said. She fingered the cuff of her robes that hid the name on her wrist.
“Oh.” Hermione's face twisted slightly, looking upset. “Is that the only reason we're talking?”
“Well, we could talk about something else, if you would prefer. But I thought we would mention them, so it could stop being uncomfortable.” Fleur decided to just go for it. She had been working hard to get Hermione to like her, but she also wanted to be desired for herself, too, not just how hard she could try to get someone else to like her. “I've been trying to talk to you about it for awhile, but you are always too busy.”
Fleur stopped fingering her cuff, and then pulled it up, revealing Hermione's name written in precise script on her wrist. Hermione glanced in all directions, looking scandalized, before Fleur shoved her cuff back down. “What are you doing?” Hermione hissed.
“Showing you my mark,” Fleur said. “Obviously.”
Hermione looked Fleur up and down, her eyes still wide. Suddenly it hit Fleur that this might be a huge cultural taboo to her. It had never been a problem among soulmates in France, and especially not in Veela culture. But Hermione Granger was not only English, but also a Muggleborn. Things might be very different at Hogwarts. Fleur sighed. “I apologize. I did not mean to cross a line,” she said.
“Right. Well.” Hermione took a deep breath, and then looked at her. “That's my name. In my handwriting.”
“Yes,” Fleur agreed.
There was a long pause, and Fleur glanced down at the textbook that Hermione had propped open when she'd entered. It was about water creatures, and Fleur smile and looked up at her. She leaned forward and kept her voice soft. “Harry has figured out the Second Task, too?”
“Oh,” Hermione started to slam shut her book, and then thought better of it. “Then you must know, too.”
“Of course.” No need to hide her pride. Headmistress Maxime might have helped her with the last Task, but Fleur had figured the egg out all on her own. “I like bathing, and the egg goes with me wherever I go. Safer.” She leaned back and opened the separate large bag that she carried, showing Hermione the egg.
“Yes, we can't trust Hogwarts students, now can we?” Hermione was angry again.
“Any other students. I care about them, but sometimes they are nosy, and that is not always pleasant.” Fleur tucked the egg away. “If I had any ideas, I would offer some hints,” Fleur said. She meant it. Hints would only be fair, after the “hint” she'd been given by her Headmistress.
Hermione shut the book, slowly, and then looked at Fleur. “So you're still trying to figure out a plan?”
Fleur grimaced. “Yes.” She didn't like to admit it, to anyone, really. She had her pride, not just as the representative and Champion of Beauxbatons, but also as a Veela. “I'm still uncertain of my plan.”
There was silence for a full minute after that, Fleur looking at Hermione. Her beautiful curly hair, her dark brown skin, her expressive eyes. Eyes that seemed to be looking Fleur over, too. Finally, their eyes met. Fleur wondered if she should lean in and try a kiss, but told herself to stay still. They would have their whole lives to kiss, and Fleur didn't want to ruin the moment.
“I have something to tell you,” Hermione said. Her voice was barely a whisper. She reached at her cuff, and pulled it up, just slightly. “Just because your name is on my wrist doesn't mean I'm going to fall all over you.” Her words were quiet as they both just stared at Fleur's slanted handwriting on Hermione's delicate wrist.
Reaching forward, Fleur touched her name, and Hermione drew her hand back, pulling it to her chest. She slid the cuff back down.
“I will not push myself on you, ever.” Fleur promised. “Veela's take soulmates very seriously.”
“So I've read.”
Fleur blinked repeatedly. “You were reading about us?”
“We don't have much in the library,” Hermione admitted. “But I wanted to learn more about your culture, and why you affect everyone else but me.”
“It would be cruel to affect our soulmates,” Fleur said. “If we're to be with someone for life, and know that we are meant for them, we would never do anything to pressure them, even when it comes to our basic biology.”
Hermione nodded, as if absorbing the information. “Do you have any books about Veela culture?” she asked.
Fleur thought about, and then nodded. “I can owl home for some.” Then she frowned. “But they will be in French.”
“That would be wonderful!” Hermione said. She nodded, enthusiastically. “I'm, well, studying French. Or at least I have been, since I heard your name. I wanted to be able to speak to you in French.” She blushed. “Reading more in French might help. And you can help, of course.”
“Of course.” Fleur grinned. “I would love to help you.” She felt her heart fluttering at the thought that Hermione might have seemed standoffish to Fleur to her face, but had been working towards their relationship behind her back.
“Do you know much about Muggle culture?” Hermione asked, seemingly out of the blue.
Fleur hesitated. She was in Muggle Studies, but she had to be honest. “No. Perhaps you can be my teacher?”
“Yes! Muggle Studies here are a joke.” Hermione shook her head. “They try, but once I had to correct the teacher on what, exactly, the importance of computers really is.”
Taking a deep breath, Fleur decided to go for it. “Would you be willing to teach me more at the Yule Ball? As my date?”
The look of shock on Hermione's face was adorable, and Fleur tried to memorize it even as it faded. Nodding slowly, Hermione agreed to be her date. “But I want to meet in two days to share books,” she insisted.
Well, if her soulmate was to be a studier, than she would be, too. “Deal.”