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-Fleur?-
-Yes, ma petite lionne? -
-Did you hear that?-
-Oui, I heard it-
-She... Did she say?-
_________________________________________________________________________
24 hours earlier.
-Are you ready, Vic? -
Hermione whispered, half sprawled, kneeling on one leg in the muddy dirt holding her wand as an offensive weapon. The girl beside her was in a similar position, her newly acquired wand held confidently. Both were dressed similarly, what appeared to be a brown jumpsuit covering every part of their bodies, a black waistcoat covering their torsos.
Victoire nodded firmly before standing up suddenly.
-For freedom and the force!- without another word she ran off, Hermione following her with a war cry, firing off incantations that would smear their opponents with non-harmful coloured paint all over the place.
The spells bounced off the environment of trees and mucky mud everywhere, barely affecting them both and, in a second that seemed to stretch for miles, Hermione looked down at her little girl, who had started wizarding school this year and already possessed her first wand of her own. The eleven year old girl had grown so much since she first moved into the village with the Delacour-Grangers, so many cries, arguments, long debates of what this new reality meant for each of the three of them.
So many "You're not my mothers!" and "We just want to help you and take care of you in whatever way you need us".
Building the foundation of trust and love that they now had for each other had taken a lot of time and perseverance from all 3 sides, even more so from Victoire, as a 5 year old veela girl who had lost her entire family in one fell swoop. Hermione would thank every deity in existence for the rest of her life if it meant that Victoire would let her be a part of her family.
She couldn't be prouder of her little storm.
-Vic! Double attack at eleven o'clock!-
With the blue eyes and blonde hair typical of veelas from the French region where Fleur and Victoire were natives, strangers had no qualms in assuming that the two women were related (usually as mother-daughter), as for Hermione however...Well. She didn't share any of these characteristics, so any relationship the others might make was out of the book.
Still, the little family had come to a latent harmony, Fleur and Hermione were quick to clarify that they were not trying to replace Victoire's parents, they just wanted to help out as they were allowed; Victoire had quickly decided not to call them " Mother" or any derivative of the title, and chose instead to remind the two adults that she loved them always, a sentiment that the other two returned with pride.
-Hermione! The pigeon, pigeon!- exclaimed Victoire, taking a man's stance on the floor as the older woman was quick to leap headlong over her and end up rolling on her side on the floor, spraying paint left and right.
So yes, they had reached a point of beautiful calm and beauty in their assembled little family life, and Hermione couldn't be happier.
The little battle of spells they had been engaged in against the block's resident elf family was...fun. Although very messy, it definitely nominates them both as losers. By the end of the game their bodies looked more like a bad attempt at abstract art by a three year old than real people, and the mud stuck uncomfortably in their hair; but Victoire was smiling, happy with the candy Dobby offered them for their hard work, and proud to be the one who had hit the most shots in their squad of two.
They shared the small snack and made small talk with the family, until it was time to leave. Victoire was going back to Beauxbatons early on Monday morning. Hermione didn't need another scolding about punctuality from her wife, no matter how attractive Fleur looked with her flaming eyes.
With a bit of luck she would keep Fleur from seeing Victoire's state of cleanliness with a bit of charm, until the girl had a chance to thoroughly clean the mud out of her hair and the paint off her nostrils.
-Hey, kiddo, you know what? Now you look just like me,- Hermione teased affectionately at the idea, shaking out the girl's now brown hair.
Victoire, on the other hand, did not fight back as she had hoped.
The little veela held a strand of hair between her stained gloved fingers before looking at Hermione with all the seriousness that a Delacour-branded frown was capable of projecting.
-Do you think Fleur would be angry if I dyed it? -
And...Yes. That was all the dose of good ideas Hermione Granger would give for the rest of the day.
-Honey, we're home!- exclaimed Hermione in a remarkably exaggerated tone as Victoire managed to stand still long enough for a shallow cleansing spell on her to prevent her from leaving footprints all the way to her room.
She receives no direct response, only the sound of the faint vibrations of some blues song she doesn't quite recognise invades the space, yet it isn't long before she feels it. The flames of Fleur's magic licking her skin almost lovingly, like an outstretched hand offering invitation in tandem with a gentle smile.
Hermione lets herself go, like a sailor adrift. Fleur was always so gentle, so gentle, that Hermione wants nothing more than to dive headlong into the caresses.
She finds her sitting on the floor of her office, a glass of water in one hand and a smudged pen in the other, surrounded by papers whose words are incomprehensible to her.
Fleur always carried this kind of easy beauty that Hermione would never fully understand, content to lose herself in the details.
Fleur was scrupulous at the beginning of their relationship, too used to the frivolities of the world, men and women too weak to appreciate reality. But again, perspectives were conditioned.
"I'm a heteronormative beauty, Hermione, blonde hair and blue eyes? They practically teach everyone at birth what they should like. Let alone the stupid thrall. Just because they think they like me under some condition, doesn't mean it's true" The blonde had said once a long time ago, still scared of past experiences, terrified that Hermione had only asked her out on the best date she'd ever had just because somehow the thrall had snuck up on her (despite having confirmed every minute that the brown eyes didn't lose their clarity).
"Oh but of course, that stops once they see the beak and feathers, so I'm not so pretty anymore am I? "The statement had been laden with irony, perhaps some hidden self-deprecation.
It took time for Fleur to understand, even longer to overcome her fears.
But Hermione was patient, oh so very very patient in her explanation.
How the first thing she had noticed, actually seen and not just looked at, was not the blonde hair or the blue eyes. But a woman whose voice had been so very gentle in calming a small centaur child who had been very curious and lost in a part of the forest that did not belong to her pack.
Gentleness and kindness, a will of steel.
Hermione fell, literally fell out of the tree she had climbed alone at the gentleness the interaction exuded.
Bossy, was the second thing she noticed.
Fleur liked to tell people what to do, perhaps because she had been raised to become head of a clan and was running a more than diverse community at the young age of 24. It frustrated her beyond measure when she couldn't decipher the free soul that seemed to be the young brunette who had fallen out of a tree on their first encounter.
Iron willed, selfless concern for others, graceful in a lethal, sarcastic way that put a golden glow at the edges of her pupils and a smile that slightly crinkled the corners of her eyes.
To Hermione, Fleur seemed objectively good-looking from the first moment. Her beauty was a case apart entirely. No, Fleur's beauty was something more intricate that the veela nevertheless embroidered like a blanket of air. And Hermione would spend her life deciphering her every knot.
-Love, we're here. Victoire went up to her room to wash up. Brunch?- ,Hermione murmured lightly against her wife's temple, smiling as she felt Fleur lean slightly into her embrace.
-Hi sweetheart. Of course, let me put this away and I'll be with you in a snap,- Fleur turned her head slightly, managing to share a soft kiss with the brunette before pulling away with a slight smirk on her lips. - You taste like paint. Shower first, kisses later- she complained when Hermione tried to chase her lips.
The brunette stared as her wife stood up and began to sort the papers with a flick of her wand with a betrayed expression on her face.
-Don't give me that look Mrs. Delacour, I can smell the mud from here and no cleaning spell will work on that-
-But Fleeeur...Pretty please? - Hermione chased after her with a mock pout as Fleur tried to dodge her arms and shook her head repeatedly.
-Don`t "but fleeeur" me, Hermione. Shower, then kisses. And if you're good, something else when Victoire goes to bed.-
That was meant to get the younger witch's attention.
Hermione suddenly stiffened, and both women stared at each other before a smile exploded on her face.
-"Ma'am, yes ma'am,- Hermione gave an odd parting wave, before winking at her wife and hurrying out of the office.
Fleur watched her retreat with a frown, before melting into a fond smile.
Goddess, her wife was so fucking weird.
And how much she loved her.
The brunch took place without major qualms, the little family of 3 displaced in the dining room. Mostly the adults were devoted to listening adoringly to the young girl who didn't limit herself in details about her week at school.
-And I know it's been months, the side garden is beautiful maman! Madame Ava explained to me how the enchantment works that keeps the atmosphere so friendly and...Seriously mum, I don't know how you thought Hogwarts could get any better or how I could survive in sub-zero weather,- Victoire turned to Hermione with her prerogative , totally unaware of the stupor she had driven the two witches into with her words. - Oh.right! Did you know that Lori's baby brother was born last week? I can't wait to meet him! Did you see how Lori looks a lot like Miss Kara? Well she says Kon looks exactly like Lena! Can we pay them a quick visit to meet him later, please please please? I already spoke to Lori and she said it was fine...In fact she threatened me that it was my best friend obligation so...Can we?-
Hermione and Fleur nodded, still unable to modulate. Victoire ignored them and continued to happily enjoy her milkshake, before slipping into yet another explanation of how her History teacher was the most boring person in the universe.
Later that day, after meeting the newest and most adorable member of Lori's family and a shared walk between the two families to play in the park. Fleur and Hermione found themselves sharing a warm bath and the kisses that had been denied before, with Lori tucked safely in her bed, at last able to emerge from the haze their little girl had thrown them into.
-Fleur?
-Yes, ma petite lionne? -
-Did you hear that, right?-
-Oui, I heard it.-
-Did she... Did she call us what I think she called us?-
Fleur hummed happily at his wife's immersion, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
-Welcome officially to motherhood, ma belle.-