Aftermath

“How did my life turn into this.”Fleur thought to herself as she stood in the Weasley family home listening to Molly scream at her about breaking her son’s heart. Fleur and Bill had just announced to the family that they were getting a divorce and the Weasley matriarch was not taking it well. Some of the things that came out of the older woman’s mouth had shocked Fleur and just reaffirmed her decision to break free from the family. The Veela had never liked any of the Weasleys and the feeling was mutual as the family never missed the chance to tell Fleur how much they hated her. Fleur wanted to feel guilty for even marrying Bill but she didn’t. The marriage was one of convenience as Fleur needed a way to stay in Britain and Bill needed a way to get his family off his back about him settling down. Both Fleur and Bill were gay but Bill was afraid his family would disown him as they were extremely homophobic. If Bill had it his way they marriage would continue but Fleur wouldn’t allow it. The reason being that she was 7 months pregnant and Bill wasn’t the father. He had offered to raise the child as his own but Fleur didn’t want that. She wanted to raise her baby with their other parent. 

Of course that wouldn’t happen until she found Hermione but she wasn’t going to stop looking. Hermione was her mate something Fleur didn’t realize until she had seen Hermione at her wedding to Bill. It was first time since Hogwarts that she had seen the girl. When she asked her mother about why she didn’t know sooner her mother explained that Fleur thrall wasn’t mature enough to recognize Hermione as anything more than a friend. Fleur had easily accepted that as Veela usually didn’t find their mates until they were adults. Even if they had been friends with their mates all their lives it wasn’t until they were old enough to bond with their inner Veela were they able to recognize their mate.

Fleur had remembered the shock she felt when she first realized that Hermione was meant to be her forever. That shock turned into happiness because Fleur had always like Hermione. The girl was kind, passionate and went out of her way to help others. Not to mention Hermione was also intelligent, a powerful witch and a natural born leader. It was those attributes that kept Fleur from speaking to Hermione about the bond as the girl had spent the entire time up until the wedding planning the mission she went on with Harry and Ron after the Death Eater’s showed up at the wedding. Fleur had just asked Hermione to dance and was about to tell her about the fake marriage and the bond when the Dark Lord’s followers had shown up. When the fight was finished Hermione, Harry and Ron were nowhere to be found.

Fleur didn’t see Hermione again until she was brought to Shell Cottage after the incident at Malfoy Manor. Fleur had never been so scared when the other captives had appeared and she noticed Harry cradling Hermione in his arms. Initially Fleur thought the girl was dead and when she finally saw the extent of the damage Fleur had been enraged. After she made sure that Hermione would live she demanded to know everything that happened. Finding out that Harry was responsible for getting them captured had Fleur partially shifting into her Veela form and attacking the boy. It had taken all the able bodied captives and Bill to calm her down. The only things that truly stopped her was knowing that Hermione wouldn’t be happy with Fleur killing Harry.

After finding out everything that the boys and the others knew about what happened to Hermione Fleur spent a week straight focused on trying to heal Hermione the best she could. The minor wounds were easy but the amount black magic used and the after effects of the unforgivable curses was not. Hermione’s body had fought valiantly and at times Fleur thought that she was going to lose Hermione. It was very touch and go that whole week until finally Hermione woke up and was able to interact with her. In the beginning Hermione said very little. It didn’t deter Fleur however. She would spend all day just sitting on the bed with Hermione reading her poetry and any other books she had in the house. At night she would hold Hermione and sooth her when she had nightmares and when Hermione was finally up to having conversations Fleur would talk to her about anything that came to her mind.

One of the topics brought up was the fake marriage to Bill. Fleur confessed the reasons for the marriage. She didn’t tell Hermione about the mate bond however because she didn’t want to overwhelm the traumatized witch. It was hard not to say anything but Fleur knew that Hermione was going through too much at the time and didn’t need to be saddled with yet another issue. The pair did grow closer as the time passed. That closeness led to a night of passion that resulted in creating a new life. When Fleur found out about the pregnancy she was ecstatic. Who wouldn’t have been happy about having a child with their mate. The problem was that by the time Fleur found out the war was over and Hermione had disappeared.

Not that Fleur blamed Hermione. Hearing about all the things that Hermione had done during the war had made not only Fleur but the rest of the world realize that Harry Potter wasn’t the true hero it was Hermione that won them the war. Harry had proudly spoken of everything Hermione did that made it possible for him to cast the curse to kill the Dark Lord. Harry even spoke out when Ron tried to take credit for many of the things Hermione did. Hermione Granger went though hell and never once gave up. So when the final battle was over and she disappeared from the battleground after making sure that everyone was alright no one could hold it against her. Hermione deserved break and a chance to have a moment of peace.

Fleur had just wished that Hermione knew of the mate bond and the baby. She had no doubt that Hermione would step up and take responsibly but Fleur had to find her first. Not only she but the rest of her flock had been searching everywhere and following every lead but they hadn’t found anything. Fleur knew that Hermione was alive because if she wasn’t her Veela would be effected by the death of its mate. What Fleur didn’t know was where Hermione was and if she was safe. Fleur had reached out to not only Harry but to Prof Mcgongal as well as they were the two people Hermione was the closet to but they hadn’t heard from Hermione either. They both offered their assistance in finding her but had no luck yet. Fleur was at the point of putting out an ad in multipole newspapers hoping Hermione would see it so that she knew Fleur was looking for her. Hearing Bill speak brought Fleur out of her musings.

“It’s not Fleur’s fault mom.”Bill said.

“How is it not that harlot’s fault? She is pregnant with another man’s child for merlin sake.”Molly yelled.

“It’s not her fault because the marriage was fake.”Bill was unsurprised by the shock and surprise that came over his family.

“What do you mean it was fake?”Molly asked.

Bill flinched at the calmness Molly asked the question. He preferred when she was yelling.”I mean that Fleur and I got married because Fleur needed a legal way to stay in Britain and I needed someone to marry so you would leave me alone about settling down.”

“You put us through all this hurt and drama so that whore could get a visa?”Molly’s voice was even louder than before.

“Fleur is not a whore. She is my best friend and a good person.”Bill wasn’t going to put up with his mother calling Fleur names. The poor Veela had to put up with it for the last three years now that the truth was out he wasn’t going to allow it to continue.

“A good person wouldn’t get pregnant by someone other than husband fake marriage or not.”Molly said.

“Do you know how much shame you have bought to this family?”Percy asked.

“You of all people should not be talking about bringing shame to the family.”Bill thought out of all of his family Percy would have the least to say because it was well known fact that the only reason he wasn’t put in Azkaban with rest of the Dark Lord’s followers was because he ratted everyone out.

“Percy is a good boy who made a mistake. He has already paid for his crimes. There is no reason to bring up the past.”Molly told him.

“His mistakes almost Hermione killed numerous times.”Fleur couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. Percy had been responsible for putting Hermione in danger many times throughout the war. 

“Don’t you dare say that name!!”Ron told her.

“I’ll say Hermione’s name anytime I want.”Fleur had more right to say Hermione’s name than any of the Weasleys.

“Not in front of me you dirty creature.”Ron took a step towards Fleur but stopped when Bill put himself in front of the Veela.

“What’s your problem?”Bill asked.

“My problem is her.”Ron pointed at Fleur.”You think I don’t know that you used your thrall to seduce my girlfriend?”

Fleur felt herself overcome with rage at the mere mention of anyone trying to claim Hermione.“Hermione is not your girlfriend nor has she ever been.”

“She would be here right now helping my mom plan our wedding if you hadn’t gotten your claws into her.”Ron said.

“You think that Hermione would even consider lowering herself to spend time with the likes of you let alone marry you.”Fleur laughed as the very idea. She knew that Hermione hated Ron and the rest of his family with passion. The witch had mentioned it to her not only at the wedding but when they were at Shell Cottage.”Are you delusional?”

“You’re the one that drove her away. You ruined not only her life but mine as well.”Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket but before he could cast a spell it flew into Fleur’s hand.

“You are disgusting. Drawing a wand on a pregnant woman is low even for a Weasley.”Fleur wasn’t surprised that Ron would do such a thing.”Bill you know I love you but this just proves it’s to dangerous for me to be around your family.”

“Thank you for coming anyway.”Bill was hoping that telling the family the truth would make them realize what a good person Fleur was and make them stop their campaign to ruin her reputation. Not that it was working as the Weasley family didn’t have a good one of their own with Percy working for the Dark Lord and Ron and Molly lying to the media about Ron and the rest of the family’s role in the war. Lies that were proven false when dozens of people came forward to discredit them.

“I’ll be at home if you need me.”Fleur handed Bill Ron’s wand and being mindful of the room walked backwards to the door so she wouldn’t be caught off guard if they decided to attack her when her back was turned. Making her way to the Apparition point Fleur let out a sigh of relief. She was finally done with the Weasley family. She would have divorced Bill right after the war was over but with the ministry in shambles and everyone trying to rebuild their lives she hadn’t been able to get it done. As soon as the option was available Fleur had filed the paperwork. When she found Hermione Fleur wanted to be completely single. That way she would be available to pursue a relationship with her mate. Even if Hermione didn’t want to get married right away Fleur was sure she would give her a chance to prove they were a good match. Even with all the trauma Fleur knew that Hermione was a good person. If Hermione wasn’t she would have given up on the war after she healed enough to leave Shell Cottage. The fact that Hermione remained dedicated to the mission and stayed until the war was over proved that. Now Fleur just had to figure out where Hermione went and how to help convince Hermione to come home. How Fleur would do that would depend on how much healing Hermione needed because Fleur wasn’t naive enough to believe that Hermione was perfectly alright. The things Hermione went through were bound to affect her. Fleur just hoped that Hermione was willing to let her help her get better. Something that Fleur was positive Hermione would do for their child.