Aftermath

“Please come to my office for a family meeting.”Fleur set down the branch she was holding and made her way out of the nursery she was decorating to follow her grandmother’s instructions after Sabine’s eagle patronus faded. Fleur had been making the baby a traditional nest out of tree branches as was custom for Veela to make for their children. She wished that Hermione was there to help her but they still hadn’t found the witch and the nest needed to be made before the baby was born. It had to be made by hand without the help of magic so Fleur didn’t have time to wait as she was due in two months. She was hoping her grandmother was calling a family meeting because she had news about Hermione but wasn’t going to get ahead of herself. Even if there was information Fleur doubted it would be enough to lead them to Hermione. She was beginning to think they would never locate the girl. Fleur wasn’t going to give up looking though. Hermione was out there and Fleur was going to find her no matter what.

“Good you’re here. Have a seat.”Sabine said when Fleur entered her office.

“Thanks.”Fleur happily accepted the seat. She may have loved the idea of having a baby with Hermione but the pregnancy was hard on her body. Working on the nest had made her back stiff and achy so taking break was probably a good idea.

“Why have you called us here mother?”Apolline asked. She and her wife Janine like Fleur were hoping this had to do with Hermione. Apolline desperately wanted Fleur’s mate by her side when her daughter gave birth.

“I have called you here because I have news that is related to Hermione.”Sabine held up a hand to stop not only Fleur but Apolline, Janine, Fleur’s sister Gabriele and Sabine’s own mate Bethany from asking questions.”Let me tell you before you ask me your questions.”

“We will refrain from speaking.”Bethany was of the same thought as the not only the rest of the family but the rest of the Delacour flock as well. They all wanted Hermione to be reunited with Fleur.

“I have heard from a source in Italy that an anonymous tip was given to their Law Enforcement about a Death Eater safe house. They don’t know who gave them the tip but they suspect it was Hermione.”Sabine wasn’t surprised when she was interrupted by Fleur.

“Is Hermione alright?”Fleur asked in a panic.

“Other than their suspicion there was no proof of Hermione being involved.”Sabine told her.

“If Hermione wasn’t involved then why did you call a meeting?”Janine asked.

“It was because of what they found during the raid and what happened afterward that I think you will find interesting.”Sabine wasn’t sure exactly what to make of the information that she had gotten.

“What did they find?”Apolline hoped it wasn’t something bad.

“When they breached the safe house they found the dead bodies of 8 Death Eaters including Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy and Draco Malfoy.”Sabine had been shocked to learn that not only were the three high profile men found but they had been killed as well.

“What does this have with Hermione?”Fleur was very happy to hear those three men were dead. They had been involved in torturing Hermione and deserved what they got.

“What it has to do with Hermione is that after finding out the three men were killed the authorities checked the Lestrange and Malfoy family tapestries and found that Hermione is now the Head of Household for both families.”Sabine told her.

“Something that would only happen if she was the one to kill the remaining heirs.”Gabrielle concluded.

“Exactly. So even though there is no physical proof that Hermione killed them the tapestries have changed and I doubt that was because Rodolphus, Draco or Lucius willingly transferred the title.”Sabine was positive that Hermione was the one to kill the men. 

“Do think that’s what’s she’s been doing this whole time? Hunting down the Dark Lord’s followers that got away?”Fleur wouldn’t put it past Hermione to take justice in her own hands. 

“I asked the same thing and my contact told me that the 8 people they found dead aren’t the first ones they have come across. Finding that out I sent out some feelers and found out that all over the world to include America there have been cases of the Dark Lord’s followers coming up dead. The person or persons who does it leaves no evidence they were there and always contacts the authorities using the same method. They pay a child to bring a note to the ministry. I think they use poly juice potion because it’s a different person each time.”Sabine was very impressed the person hadn’t been caught even though they had been in different countries under the microscope of many different law enforcement officials. 

“I think it’s Hermione.”Fleur didn’t know anyone else who could pull it off without getting caught.”The question is is she working alone?”

“That is a question I don’t have an answer for.”Sabine wished she did but she did not.

“How are we going to use this information to find Hermione?”Bethany asked.

“My thought was to reach out to Narcissa Malfoy as she is a member of Hermione’s new house.”Sabine said.

“Even though Hermione is the Head of Household it doesn’t mean she will contact Narcissa.”Apolline didn’t think Hermione would come out of hiding just to deal with Malfoy family business.

“Especially since we found out that the woman had stood by while Hermione was being tortured by her son, husband, sister and brother in law.”If anything Janine thought that Hermione would cut the woman off and let her fend for herself.

“We don’t know what Hermione thinks about the woman. I remember one time that she defended her because she was forced into her marriage. I think based on that and the fact that Draco was a product of one of Lucius’ affairs will have Hermione feeling sympathetic towards Narcissa.”Fleur had remembered how passionate Hermione was about the way pure bloods basically sold off their children to the highest bidder. Fleur’s mate thought that betrothals and arraigned marriages were barbaric and should have been outlawed. Something Fleur agreed with.

“If that’s true then I doubt Hermione would shun Narcissa. She would most likely reach out to the woman to make sure she is alright and offer her a way to continue supporting herself now that her access to the Malfoy estate is gone.”Sabine said.

“That means we need to talk to her before Hermione does so that she can pass on a message for us.”Gabrielle felt like this plan might actually work.

“What message do we pass on though. I really don’t want Hermione to find out we are having a child together from someone other than me.”Fleur wanted to be the one to share the good news. That and she didn’t want other people knowing. She never even told Bill. As it was the only ones who did know were her family and members of her flock. None of which would tell any outsiders.

“Even though Hermione may not have felt the bond completely she would have felt something for you. The fact that you got pregnant the first time you were intimate proves that because Veela can only conceive if both partners bare their souls and magical cores to each other. Something that doesn’t happen without love and trust being involved. That means that Hermione does have feelings for you. That being the case maybe if you said that you had an emergency you needed Hermione’s help with she would be willing to reach out to you.”Sabine suggested.

“She would come if she thought I was in trouble. I just hate the idea of having to manipulate her into visiting me.”Fleur didn’t want to deceive Hermione. She wanted her mate to come to her willingly.

“If you can think of a better way then I’m all ears.”Sabine would happily go along with anything Fleur had planned.

Fleur sighed.”I can’t.”

“Alright then I want you to write a letter to Narcissa explaining why you need Hermione to contact you. Then I want you to reach out to Harry to see if he has more information about these killings then we do.”Sabine figured with his job as an auror Harry would be able to get his hands on better information than Sabine’s contacts.

“That’s a good idea.”If anyone would know if Hermione was doing the killings than Fleur thought it would Harry.”Can hand me some paper so I can write my letters?”

Sabine handed Fleur paper, a quill and an ink pot.”Maybe write an individual one to Hermione.”

“I will.”Fleur took a minute to think about what to say then penned three separate letters. She wanted to write say so many things to Hermione but kept the letter short wanting to tell her in person.”Done.”

“I’ll send these out for you.”Sabine folded up each letter and stuck it in an envelope.

“Now that that is done I need to collect some more sticks for my nest.”Fleur said.

“I’ll help you with that.”Apolline volunteered.

“Thank you.”Fleur would definitely need the help.

“Come on. We will get the sticks and then have a snack.”Apolline suggested.

“I would like that.”Fleur was always hungry so the idea of a snack was a pleasant thought. Standing from her seat she slowly made her way to the door to her grandmother’s study.”Please let me know if we get any replies.”

“I will.”Sabine promised.

“Do you think that Hermione is going to contact us?”Fleur asked her mother as they walked side by side down the hallway.

“I think this is the best lead we have gotten so far and I’m hoping that it will lead to Hermione reaching out to you.”Apolline said.

“What happens when she does reach out me? What if she doesn’t the baby?”Fleur had been trying to be optimistic but as she had no contact with Hermione her fears were getting the better of her.

“She will want the baby. If she wasn’t interested in having children with you then you wouldn’t be able to conceive.”Apolline wasn’t worried about Hermione not wanting the baby. Veela pregnancy was magic based and only happen when both parties were intending to have a child. So even though Hermione and Fleur might not have realized it at the time both of them subconsciously wanted to have a child together.

“But so much time has passed since then and things change. I mean Hermione is out in the world hunting down and killing Death Eaters. I would have never have thought the girl I knew would become a vigilante.”Fleur didn’t doubt that Hermione was the one doing the killings but would have thought Hermione would gone the way of changing laws to get the proper punishment for those guilty of war crimes.”It makes me think something happened that I didn’t know about that pushed her to the point of taking the law in her own hands.”

“You’re probably right something most likely happened that you don’t know about. That doesn’t change the fact that Hermione wanted to have a child with you and it doesn’t change the fact that Hermione is a good, honorable person. She will want to raise this baby with you. I can guarantee it.”Apolline was positive that Hermione would step up to the responsibility of being a parent.

“I just hate not knowing where she is or how she will react.”Fleur said.

“I know it’s hard but you have to have faith. The goddess wouldn’t have bonded you with Hermione if you weren’t meant to be together.”Apolline told her.

“True.”Fleur couldn’t deny that the goddess made a good match. Walking next to her mother Fleur took a moment to go over everything she had learned. Hermione was now the head of two pureblood households. Those titles she earned by killing the former heads and one of the heirs. Fleur knew it was wrong but she felt proud of Hermione for her actions. If anyone deserved to benefit from those estates it was Hermione. The girl had suffered so much. Gaining two titles wasn’t even close to being enough of what Hermione should have gotten for her efforts during the war. The only thing that gave Fleur pause was the reason Hermione did it. Fleur didn’t think that Hermione would be a revenge killer. That meant that something was driving her to hunt and kill the Dark Lord’s followers. It make Fleur wonder who Hermione’s next target was going to be. Hopefully Fleur would be able to talk to Hermione before she made her next move. It was definitely not safe for the mother of Fleur’s child to be putting themselves is so much danger. Fleur just had to figure out a way to convince Hermione of that as well. That being something she had no clue how to do. She would find a way because when came to her child Fleur wasn’t going to take any chances.