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Hermione floated peacefully on her back at the edge of the Black Lake in her river otter form with her eyes shut and her paws neatly folded over her stomach, nearly lulled into a nap under the unseasonably warm late-September sun.
Shortly after discovering her patronus form was a river otter, Hermione became both intrigued and enamored with the little creature to a point where she sought out Professor McGonagall to enquire about learning to become an animagus in the hopes her form would also be an otter. As much as she loved Crookshanks and Hedwig, (Scabbers was still a sore subject, and the boys and her had silently, and unanimously, agreed to simply not speak about Ron’s former pet-slash-traitor), Hermione simply gravitated towards otters more. She also was feeling strangely antsy lately with her current workload. It wasn’t engaging her enough this year. Plus, she still had access to the Time Turner but had yet to need it for her courses. No time like the present to add some extracurriculars in Hermione’s mind. She had met with Professor McGonagall immediately after returning to Hogwarts to ask her for help and guidance.
After months of intensive training with Professor McGonagall, and some additional weeks of repeated training thanks to the Time Turner, Hermione had a vision of her Animagus form and was elated to discover her form would in fact be a river otter. Professor McGonagall informed her that that was quite common as the patronus and animagus reflected the person’s innermost traits. Knowing this, Hermione was even more excited to eventually achieve the shift to her newly discovered river otter animagus form. When she successfully transformed without getting stuck partially-shifted, Professor McGonagall was delighted. Hermione had never seen her typically stoic professor be so outwardly giddy at her student’s achievement. The giddiness was even more apparent because her professor had been in her cat form and had started purring like a motor as she watched one of her favorite students shift effortlessly between her human and animagus form.
Now, Hermione tried to spend at least a few hours each week in her otter form. It was the only time the Brightest Witch of Her Age could find true peace and tranquility in the midst of exam preparation and generally keeping Harry and Ron alive. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had given her special permission to float on the surface of the Black Lake, as long as Hermione swore to not dive under the surface to hunt for fish or float too far from the shore. The school had a tentative relationship with the merpeople and the Giant Squid but they were well aware that at the end of the day, they could not completely control the whims and emotions of the creatures of the deep, so it was best to err on the side of caution.
Hermione had configured an easy ankle buoy-anchor to keep her otter from floating away while she meditated.
It was a rare sunny day in Scotland. Hermione stretched, let out a jaw-cracking yawn, and blinked her eyes open momentarily. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, and there was a weird grey shape getting progressively larger…
Wait .
Hermione’s eyes snapped wide open as a large grey thing started gaining speed towards her.
Shit, bollocks, cunting fuck.
Hermione’s otter form rolled onto her belly and tried to reach her ankle. No sooner had her otter paws changed into vaguely human appendages did she suddenly see the Black Lake from above. Her otter form let out an indignant squeak as she quickly gained altitude.
The bird-thing had grabbed her foot and she was hanging upside down, buoy still attached to her ankle, as the giant body of water became smaller and smaller. Hermione debated fully shifting into her human form but she worried if she did, she would plummet to her death as her body weight would immediately weigh down the bird. She decided she could at least attempt to speak to the bird on the off chance the bird was magical or would at least be surprised enough to not eat her. Hermione took a few quick, calming breaths and shifted her head back to a human’s, “Hey… I really hope you can sort of understand me,”
No sooner had she said that, that the bird that had captured her visibly stuttered, its wings suddenly ceased movement and Hermione’s stomach dropped through her body as she was reminded of the worst turbulence she had ever experienced on a plane but multiplied by a thousand, and let out a surprised squawk. The sudden drop caused Hermione’s makeshift buoy to smack her in the side, but at least she knew the bird heard her.
Thank you, Merlin above. This bird can understand me.
Hermione felt her stomach swoop again as she cracked an eye open and saw the castle from a bird’s eye view. But she had to admit she felt slightly better because she could tell the castle wasn’t as high up as the Black Lake had been when she was first nabbed from her meditative floating.
I need to wear a vest or something next time I float. Or maybe I’ll use the giant bathtub Harry told me about when he figured out the egg for the second test. I absolutely refuse to have a repeat experience.
Thankfully it seemed like her kidnapper was quickly descending on the other side of the castle. Curiously, the bird seemed to be heading towards the carriages that brought the Beauxbatons students.
Great, this must be one of the French girls’ pets out for a hunt. How humiliating.
Hermione braced for impact but was pleasantly surprised when the bird landed gently outside of one of the carriages in the soft grass instead of on the gravel. She had changed back to her full otter form, hoping to just wiggle under a carriage or into the Forbidden Forest until she could shift back into her human form, and never ever tell another living soul about her experience that afternoon.
Horrifyingly, the bird that had placed her on the ground was not in fact a bird of prey, but a godforsaken Veela.
Hermione watched with her jaw dropped as the Veela not only transformed into a Beauxbatons student but was none other than the academy’s Triwizard Champion, Fleur Delacour. Worse still was that Hermione realized this must have been a training session as not only was Fleur standing there, but a small group of other Beauxbatons students and Madame Maxime were standing in a semi-circle around where Fleur had landed as if this was a lesson in hunting? Target practice? Hermione couldn’t be sure. She was more worried about revealing herself. Animagus weren’t allowed on Hogwarts’ grounds, especially when the witch or wizard was still a student. And definitely not a student younger than a seventh year at that.
Hermione watched Fleur with trepidation as the Veela stared at her with an unreadable expression. Fleur turned to Madame Maxime and her classmates, rattling off something in French at a speed Hermione couldn’t keep up with, but she knew it was about her because Fleur kept gesturing towards her otter form and Madame Maxime looked between her and her pupil repeatedly.
After some back and forth between the student and headmistress, Madame Maxime herded her students back towards the castle, claiming, in a slightly accented and exaggerated English clearly for Hermione’s benefit, “We will see you in the Great ‘all for dinner, Fleur.”
The other Beauxbatons girls tittered and whispered to one another excitedly. The smallest and youngest of the group looked like she wanted to stay with Fleur. Hermione remembered her as the acrobat from the first dinner back to Hogwarts when the other schools were introduced.
“Gabrielle, go with the rest.” Fleur spoke sternly but lovingly at the young girl.
Gabrielle hesitated and glanced at Hermione, “You’re from ‘ogwarts, yes?”
Hermione nodded as best she could, she closed her eyes as her head bowed as well to emphasize the point.
“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,” Gabrielle was clearly ready to defend her sister to the death if need be, and Hermione respected that immensely. She watched as Fleur placated her sister with a quick glance and sharp hand gesture.
She spoke rapidly in French and gestured once more for her sister to go back with the group, which Hermione noticed had stopped walking and had turned to watch the exchange closely. Like a pack watching out for its youngest members, Hermione noted.
With a brave nod, Gabrielle spoke one last time in French and ran off to catch up to her schoolmates. One of the Beauxbatons girl’s reached out and tucked the young girl under her arm as soon as she was close enough. Hermione watched the group seamlessly encircle Gabrielle as if protecting her, and shepherded the youngest student back into the castle.
Once the group had gone out of sight, Hermione was forced to look back at Fleur, who she found to be watching her intently. It unnerved the young witch to not be able to read the Veela whatsoever. She met the girl’s gaze and tried to steady her heartbeat, which had been exceedingly jumpy even after the impromptu flight had ended. Something about Fleur Delacour made Hermione feel funny, and she could not for the life of her parse out what the reason was or how to stop it.
She had watched Ron and the rest of the Hogwarts male population effectively lose their minds when Beauxbatons had arrived, and she continued to be witness to the many awkward and downright embarrassing courting attempts made as the year progressed. The Durmstrang boys were not free from the spectacle either, but Hermione noted their significant control versus the Hogwarts boys, which led her to believe Durmstrang were familiar with either Beauxbatons, Veela, or both, and were able to withstand the temptation.
Or the lot of them were not attracted to women whatsoever, an idea which entertained Hermione greatly; picturing the likes of Victor Krum and the other hyper masculine and macho boys simply not give a fig about the ethereal Beauxbatons girls in the slightest. The girls were interesting because while Hermione could easily point out which ones were affected by the Beauxbatons girls, they didn’t make an overt ass of themselves trying to gain attention, generally. Of course, there had been some exceptions, and Hermione felt her skin crawl with secondhand embarrassment having heard and even seen some of these exceptions take place.
For the most part Hermione just got to overhear her schoolmates talk about how pretty everyone from Beauxbatons was and how the butterflies went crazy in their stomachs when one of the girls greeted them, or how their heart raced when one even glanced their way–
Oh.
OH.
Oh my god.
Hermione’s heart rate skyrocketed and her otter hands started sweating. Her tail started sliding back and forth, and her eyes darted around trying to find the quickest exit route to get away from Fleur, and away from any feelings associated with the otherworldly creature in front of her.
If I can just get away, I can just be humiliated and alone in peace until I can shift back, find Harry and Ron, and never, ever, think about this day ever again. But Merlin’s Beard, I still have the blasted anchor on my leg. I can’t just run away with this stupid thing on me. I wonder if Professor McGonagall will let me use the Time Turner just one more time because I need to have this not be happening, in any reality.
“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 suddenly appeared less statuesque and aloof, and more nervous and unsure of herself. She was even wringing her hands and couldn’t maintain eye contact with Hermione; looking between her and a spot right next to her.
“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,” Hermione watched as a lovely pink appeared across Fleur’s features. Hermione tilted her head at that, she couldn’t think why that would make Fleur blush at first. But then something Ron joked about once came to the forefront of Hermione’s mind which made the animagus gulp.
She can’t possibly be thinking about that right now, right? Jiminy Cricket, we were just talking about my abduction and her mind has gone in that direction. Is she daft?
“All of this to say, I am so sorry for what ‘appened. Are you injured? Do you need my ‘elp?” Fleur seemed to have gotten herself together again, now focused on the task at hand. “May I approach you?”
At this point, Hermione had stopped nervously flicking her tail, and even her hands had stopped sweating. Something about Fleur’s voice had calmed her down significantly.
I’ve read about a Veela’s thrall, maybe Fleur was using that on me to keep me calm. At least I know Veela seem to be vegetarians, so that’s good at least. Oh Merlin, she’s coming closer…
Hermione froze as she watched Fleur crouch low, with her arm outstretched to let Hermione close the remaining distance between them.
Why do I want her to pet me? I’m not a bloody animal, I’m an animagus. But she does smell good, and her skin looks soft as silk… Maybe just one pet will be okay. She wants to make sure I’m uninjured. Purely methodical. It’ll just be basic palpations, just like what Madame Pomfrey does in the Hospital Wing when an injured student comes in. I can handle that.
Hermione bumped Fleur’s hand with her nose and crawled slowly towards the Veela. Once closer, Hermione stilled and let Fleur check her over, particularly near her back foot where Fleur had held her during their flight. As Fleur’s deft hands swept over Hermione, the animagus felt a rumble roll through its body, surprising both the otter and the Frenchwoman. At first Fleur froze, but after a moment she let out a soft laugh and returned to her gentle check.
“I am glad to know I am not ‘urting you,” Fleur spoke, and Hermione turned her neck and looked up at the Beauxbatons champion. Fleur glanced at her and almost seemed to read her mind as she added, “Because you are purring and not growling or trying to bite me.” The rumbling immediately ceased as the realization washed over Hermione.
I was purring? I’m never going to live this down. Brightest Witch of Her Age, and here I am fucking purring at a pretty girl checking my leg for lacerations from her Veela form snatching me out of the water with her talons . Get a grip, Granger.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Fleur apologized again. “Your purring was nice. And your coat is incredibly soft,”
Is she blushing ? Did she just compliment my purring and my coat?
“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 feel like an animal. Otherwise, I would have let you be.”
Hermione cocked her head to the side again.
She watched Fleur grimace, as if debating with herself whether to say something or not. But Fleur took a short inhale and nodded to herself, “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 looked down at Hermione guiltily. She looked over Hermione’s form one more time before doing a quick double-take, “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. The otter stretched her back leg out to get the blood going properly before doing a full body stretch, letting out a yawn in the process.
Who knew getting kidnapped and checked over by a pretty girl could make someone so tired? Also, I need to remember to make an easier ankle strap to get out of in a pinch.
“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 and Hermione watched her stutter through her question. Her nerves endeared her to the young witch. It was nice to see even a perfect creature like a Veela could get nervous and become a stuttering mess like any regular person.
Hermione looked up at Fleur and blinked slowly as she felt like she was staring into the sun, but in a good way. The light was hitting Fleur and giving her a godlike glow, making her hair shine and her skin look somehow even more perfect. Even her eyes sparkled like gemstones. Hermione couldn’t stop staring at the Veela.
Oh, I’m royally and utterly fucked. I don’t think this is her thrall. She’s just perfect.
Hermione sighed.
I’m going to have to shift back and actually introduce myself, huh? If this goes poorly, I’m just going to walk into the Forbidden Forest and never return. I’ll stay in my animagus form, and live alone forever. Hecate give me strength.
Hermione shifted out from under Fleur’s hands, and she felt her heart stutter as Fleur’s fragile hopeful look dropped as she read Hermione’s movement away as a rejection. Alarmed, Hermione quickly bumped her head against Fleur’s hand once more and consciously purred for a moment to reassure her. She felt warmth fill her as Fleur’s hurt look immediately brightened. Hermione let out a happy chirp before backing away from Fleur more to have enough space to change back to her human form. Fleur seemed to understand what Hermione was trying to do and backed up a few steps as well.
The animagus took a few steadying breaths to calm herself as she realized what was about to happen in a moment.
Just do it, Granger. Fleur is just a girl. You’ve literally saved lives, survived being petrified, fought off a werewolf, rode a Hippogriff, and still remain at top of your class. Just shift. You can do this.
Hermione closed her eyes, counted to three and let her human form take shape. She rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, getting the kinks out. Professor McGonagall had said that tingling and stiffness would go away the more Hermione practiced. With one last exhale, Hermione opened her eyes and met Fleur’s for the first time as a human.
Oh. She’s a little taller than me. That’s…nice. Wow.
Fleur stood stock-still and was staring at Hermione with a shocked look on her face. When she continued to gawk at her without speaking, Hermione felt her anxiety growing. She looked down at herself and checked to make sure this wasn’t one of those nightmares where she was suddenly stark naked out in public. Thankfully, she found herself to be completely clothed in her standard Hogwarts uniform.
Christ, do I look that bad?
“Um, hello. I’m Hermione. Hermione Granger,” Hermione introduced herself. She awkwardly thrust her hand out for a handshake. The movement seemed to shake Fleur out of her stupor. She cleared her throat and reached out to shake Hermione’s hand.
Her hand is so soft. Is that a Veela thing?
“You are ‘arry’s friend, no? I’ve seen you and a red-’aired boy with him,” Fleur spoke softly, as if in awe. Hermione could not wrap her head around Fleur seemingly shocked to be speaking to her. Maybe it was because she was close with Harry, his legend was well-known after all.
“Yes, that’s right. Ron and I are Harry’s friends. I didn’t realize you knew who his friends were,” Hermione confirmed but remained slightly anxious why Fleur would notice her. Fleur was a couple years older than her and the boys, and the Beauxbatons girls typically kept to themselves at meals and around the castle. While Hermione took one or two classes above her year, she didn’t share them with Fleur.
“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 Hermione could tell there was something Fleur wasn’t mentioning something based on the way she looked just to the left of Hermione’s face rather than making eye-contact.
“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 nodded her head formally, but Hermione caught the faint blush on her cheeks. The smitten animagus grinned at the Veela as Fleur flicked her eyes nervously between Hermione’s and her hands which were nervously knitting themselves together repeatedly.
“It’s lovely to meet you formally, Fleur.” Hermione replied, saving Fleur from feeling embarrassed. She was more than familiar with nervous rambling this afternoon, so she could empathize with the Veela. It wasn’t every day you met someone by either grabbing them out of nowhere or by being the one getting grabbed.
“Would you like to return to the castle now? Maybe join me for dinner, please?” She looked at Hermione hopefully, and angled her body slightly to not inadvertently block Hermione’s path back to the Great Hall. Hermione looked between the castle and Fleur.
Is Fleur asking me to have dinner with her out of guilt for accidentally hunting me? Or does she want to be friends? Or…is this a d–
Hermione stopped that thought before it could gain any traction. It was a nice thought, but Hermione wasn’t going to get her hopes up. Fleur most likely just wanted someone to sit with who wasn’t slipping in their own drool or waxing poetic in the hopes of wooing her while she was preparing for a life-or-death tournament.
“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,” Hermione trailed off as Fleur looked crestfallen at the mention of finding the boys. Hermione stepped forward and grasped Fleur’s wrist without thinking, wanting to erase the downtrodden expression on the Veela’s face. “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,” Hermione cut herself off before she could manage to talk herself out of a lovely dinner with Fleur. She watched the girl in front of her, hoping she hadn’t scuppered her chance.
Shit, what if Veela can’t tell non-Veela about their culture? I read about them once, and I know they’re very private creatures. But she did tell me about Veela not being meat-eaters, or harming other creatures, and that hadn’t been mentioned anywhere in anything I had read about them. Maybe she can tell me some things?
“I would like nothing more than to talk to you about my people, Hermione,” Fleur purposefully enunciated the ‘H’ and looked proud of herself for doing so. Hermione felt a strong sense of contentment settle over her after hearing Fleur say her name. It sounded so lovely coming out of Fleur’s mouth. Fleur speaking in general was nice to hear, but her name specifically felt almost as good as any praise Professor McGonagall had ever given her, maybe even better than that. She’d have to hear Fleur say her name a few more times to be sure.
For purely research purposes only, of course. Nothing else.
“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?”
In a show of gallantry, Fleur offered the crook of her elbow to Hermione, who just about swooned on the spot at the gesture. She stepped up to the champion and slid her hand into place and immediately warmed as Fleur placed her other hand to cover Hermione’s, her palm smooth and comforting to the touch.
I don’t know if this is her flirting or a French custom, but I would not be opposed to more of this in the future.
“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 as the two walked slowly up the path towards the gates of the school. Hermione looked over at Fleur and tightened her grip slightly on her arm and smiled at the older girl.
“The feeling is entirely mutual, Fleur.”