A/N: I'M BACK! So I have released this a week early, because I suddenly found myself with no work to do today. It was great I sat in the staff room and typed this! Thank you all so so much for your reviews, favourites and follows for Always. If you have rejoined from that story then welcome back I have missed you all. If you are joining then I recommend reading Always because it will explain things a little better. I know I was horrible to leave it as I did, but I am back and I hope this chapter makes up for it. I really hope you enjoy this sequel to Always, which will pick up straight where we left off and also carry on some of the plot lines that were left dangling. Thank you to all of you that have PMed me asking about the sequel and giving me words of encouragement. You guys are all fantastic. So enough of my crap because you didn't come here to read this A/N! Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling (except for the cousins who are all mine!)
"Hermione, it is time we were completely honest with you. It's time we told you everything."
"What do you mean?" murmured Hermione, suddenly beginning to feel a bit nervous. She grasped Fleur's hand, needing the support.
Fleur was equally nervous, wondering what on earth her family had been keeping from her. She squeezed Hermione's hand, offering support without words. Apolline swallowed and looked to her mother again. The tension was coming off of everyone in waves.
"Well, you see, your relationship with Fleur is rather unusual. As you may already know there have only been a handful of cases where a Veela has chosen a human for a mate and I regret to say that they did not last long." Hermione blanched at Apolline's words and Fleur visibly paled, squeezing Hermione's hand even harder. "Please don't be alarmed, allow me to explain. When two Veela come together there is a union of sorts, between them physically and emotionally but also through their magic. In the relationships where a Veela has chosen a human for a mate, this bonding of magic has never happened. Veela magic is extremely powerful. The magic will attempt to bond with the human's the same way it normally would, however the human can simply not contain that much power and eventually it killed them."
Fleur shot up out of her chair. "What?! Why are you only telling us now? How dare you?" she screamed, her eyes changing colour.
Astoria and Antonine jumped up and protectively stood by Apolline and Julienne.
"Sit down Fleur…please," pleaded Julienne. "We understand that you are angry and you have a right to be, but please allow us to explain. Hermione is not in any danger. It was clear to us from the start that something was different. We didn't tell you because we weren't sure what was happening. We wanted to wait until we had found out more."
Fleur didn't look convinced, but calmed slightly when Hermione placed a hand gently on her arm. She sat down, but her eyes remained yellow, glaring at her family.
The family members around the table were now watching Hermione closely. She had remained silent, but was feeling sick. Hearing that every other human that had got involved with a Veela had died was not an altogether reassuring thought.
"Hang out," shouted Hermione. "What about Ginny? She was with Gabrielle, is she in danger?"
Apolline shook her head. "Ginny and Gabrielle did not bond in the normal way, therefore their magic could not either. For the magic to begin to bond, the physical and emotional bond must first take place. Ginny is not at risk, I promise."
Hermione felt slightly reassured and took to holding Fleur's hand and stroking the back of it with her thumb.
Julienne cleared her throat and began explaining the situation. "In terms of you relationship my dears, it appears that, impossible as it may be, your magic has joined. By all accounts Hermione should not have survived the process, but she has. When I first met you Hermione straightaway I could sense that something was different. You are the first human to ever have survived the bonding of magic, which makes you an extremely interesting individual." Julienne smiled warmly at Hermione.
"What does it mean?" asked Hermione, unable to keep the nervous quiver out of her voice.
"It means, Mademoiselle Granger, that you are an extremely powerful witch," spoke up Astoria. "You could possibly be one of the most powerful witches to ever walk the earth."
A stunned silence followed Astoria's words. Hermione didn't know what to think or feel. She was angry at being lied to, afraid of what might happen to her and shocked at this new information all at the same time. She wished she hadn't eaten so much for lunch, it may make reappearance. Fleur sat down next to Hermione, immediately wrapping an arm protectively around the brunette's shoulder.
"Are you sure? Are you sure she will be fine?" asked Fleur, desperation laced her voice.
"Yes," nodded Apolline. "She will be absolutely fine. I stayed at Hogwarts to support you during the Triwizard Tournament, but it also allowed me the opportunity to watch Hermione closely and assess what was happening. If she was in danger at any point I would have stepped in and we would have found a way to save her."
Fleur nodded, though she was still seething at her family keeping things from her.
"So what does this bonding actually mean?" asked Hermione.
"Well, essentially you are now part-Veela," said Julienne, simply.
Hermione's mouth dropped open. "W...what?" she stammered.
Apolline nodded. "Not completely, more that you will have characteristics in terms of the magic you can perform and your senses will be heightened. You won't transform or have a change in eye colour."
Hermione felt dizzy. It was all too much for her to take. The last thing she remembers is falling, someone shouting her name and then black.
The first thing she became aware of was whispering. Her arms and head felt heavy and she became aware that she was resting on something quite soft. Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as the light assaulted her.
"What happened?" she asked, groggily.
"Hermione," shouted Fleur, grasping the brunette's hand tightly. "Are you okay? How do you feel? What can I do?
Hermione grimaced as she sat at. She was on Fleur's bed upstairs. The blonde was sat on the bed, holding her hand tightly, worriedly watching Hermione. Julienne and Apolline were standing by the door, both looking very guilty and worried.
"Well in order, I'm fine, my head is a little heavy, I feel quite sore and nothing I will be alright." Fleur didn't look reassured. "Honestly Fleur I'm fine. Did I miss anything?"
Fleur shook her head. "You fainted. You fell off your chair and hit your head. I carried you up here away from everyone." The last part was spoken with anger and Hermione noticed Julienne and Apolline shift uncomfortably.
"We are sorry Hermione," said Apolline. "Truly we are. Yes we should have handled things differently, but you were never in any danger…"
"You don't get to speak to her," roared Fleur, jumping up and attempting to shield Hermione from her mother and grandmother.
"Fleur, please…" pleaded Apolline, she reached out a hand towards Fleur, but the blonde took a step back.
Hermione decided to step in, before things got serious. "Fleur, please calm down and if you won't please consider that I have a slight headache."
Fleur gave Hermione an apologetic look, but still glared at Apolline and Julienne.
"I'm sorry Hermione, we both are," whispered Julienne, tears beginning to shine in her eyes.
"Honestly, it's fine. You should have mentioned something straight away, you were wrong not to. Regardless of the fact that you didn't know what was happening, you should have told us both what you knew." Fleur looked like she was going to angrily protest, but Hermione raised a hand to stop her. "Please Fleur, I don't want to argue with your family, they made a mistake and they have apologised for it." Fleur still didn't look like she was ready to let go. "Please Fleur, for me. There is a war about to start and the last thing we need is more conflict and aggravation in our lives. They have apologised, let's just move on. They can earn our forgiveness."
"Fleur, we are sorry," said Apolline.
Fleur looked at her mother and grandmother fiercely. Finally she nodded and turned back to Hermione. "For you ma belle."
Hermione nodded and kissed Fleur, partly to reassure the blonde, but also because she needed to touch her girlfriend.
Hermione turned to Apolline. "Just answer this last question: are you 100% sure that I will be fine."
Apolline and Julienne both nodded.
"The magic bonding process is already complete. You would only be in danger if it was still happening," reassured Julienne.
Hermione nodded. "Right, well…thank you, I guess."
"Perhaps we should leave you for a moment," suggested Apolline, who turned and exited the room, followed closely by her mother. She gave Fleur one last apologetic look before shutting the door behind her.
Fleur grabbed a hold of Hermione as soon as the door was shut and hugged a tightly. Hermione hugged her girlfriend back and enjoyed just being held. She understood that Fleur needed to look after her.
"Are you alright ma belle, honestly," whispered Fleur.
Hermione nodded against Fleur's shoulder. "I promise, I'm fine I was just a little taken aback by it all. It's not every day you find out that your part-Veela and that every other human that has been in a relationship with a Veela has died," she joked.
Fleur didn't laugh, merely looked closely at Hermione as if examining whether the brunette really was alright. She must have been satisfied, because she sighed and took a deep breath.
"Come on, let's go downstairs," suggested Hermione.
Fleur did not look convinced, but after some tugging on her hand she acquiesced and allowed herself to be pulled from the room to rejoin her family downstairs.
All eyes turned towards the couple when they entered the drawing room. Fleur glared at them all as she entered. To their credit they all bowed their heads. Hermione led Fleur over to one of the many sofas and sat down, pulling on the blonde to get her to sit. Gabrielle smiled nervously at Hermione, who returned it.
"Are you quite alright Mademoiselle Granger?" asked Armand, stepping forwards and offering a cup of tea to Hermione and Fleur.
Hermione nodded, accepting the tea. "Yes, thank you Monsieur Delacour."
"Ah please, Armand, Armand. You're part of the family now after all." He smiled jovially at her and looked pointedly at Fleur, as if he was warning her to be civil with everyone.
"Will you be joining us at the Veela Solstice celebrations Mademoiselle Granger," asked Agnes, Fleur's aunt.
Hermione looked confused. She wasn't sure what they were talking about.
"Hermione has not yet been informed about the celebrations yet, dear sister," said Apolline. "The Solstice celebration is when all the members of this Coven come together and celebrate our ancestors," she explained.
"It's really just an excuse for a load of women to get together and get drunk," laughed one of Fleur's cousins.
"Valentine," exclaimed Agnes. "Please excuse my daughter, the joker. She should show some more respect to her origins."
Valentine just rolled her eyes and winked at Hermione. "Well that is what happens. Anyway Hermione how would you like to come out with us all tomorrow. The younger generation are going on a trip to the beach, why don't you and Fleur join us?"
"Erm I'm not sure what Fleur has got planned for us," said Hermione, looking at Fleur.
"Would you like to go ma belle. We may as well take advantage of the good weather." The blonde leant in so that only Hermione could hear her. "Besides I really want to see you in a bikini."
Hermione blushed profusely at Fleur's comments. "We…we could do, yes…yes why not."
Fleur's cousins all laughed, their mothers attempting to stop them but failing.
"She's adorable when she blushes," squealed another cousin, who began laughing again. This was stopped when a cushion hit her square in the face. She looked up in shock to see Fleur smirking at her.
"Right calm down dears," spoke up Apolline, clearly trying to bring some order back into the room. "And Fleur please stop throwing the furnishings around the room."
Julienne stood up at this point and the room fell silent. "Come on let's leave the youngsters to it," she suggested.
She made for the exit, her daughters and Armand following along behind her, until only Hermione, Fleur, Gabrielle and their cousins were left in the room. Hermione felt quite nervous as all of the cousins turned to watch her. It was a little unnerving to have so many pairs of eyes watching her, especially considering they were all Veela.
"How about we introduce ourselves again," suggested Valentine. "You look a little lost surrounded by all of us, besides it's a little unfair. We all know you, you probably can't even remember half of the names that you were told."
Hermione nodded, smiling weakly. "Yea that might help."
Valentine smiled. "Well, I'm Valentine. Agnes is my mother. She is the fourth out of my grandmother's daughters." She had black hair and brilliant blue eyes. She gestured to two other cousins, who looked very similar, except one had brown eyes and the other grey. "These are my sisters, Camille and Victorie." Hermione recognised one as being the cousin Fleur threw the cushion at.
"And I'm Helena," said a brunette. "I'm the oldest of Antonine's daughters. And seeing as we are doing it this way, she is the third child. These are my two sisters, Adrienne and Isabelle." They both nodded as a way of greeting and smiled at Hermione. Adrienne had beautiful auburn hair and green eyes, Isabelle was a very dark brunette with hazel eyes.
"Last but not least, I'm Corinne," greeted another cousin. "My sisters are the last two, Astrid and Sabine and our mother is Astoria, she is the second oldest child." Corinne and Astrid all looked more like Fleur and Gabrielle, but Sabine had jet black hair and dark eyes.
Hermione nodded at each one as they were introduced. "Well it's lovely to meet you all," she said, smiling at them.
"So you and our Fleur eh?" said Adrienne. "You are so out of Fleur's league." The cousins all laughed a little. Fleur growled, clearly not happy about that comment.
"Relax Fleur she didn't mean it," smirked Corinne. "You know what she is like."
"So the celebrations," said Hermione. "What are they exactly?"
"We all go to this massive lake and then grandmere gives a speech about our ancestors and our culture, we all listen and then go swimming and spend the whole evening and night in the water. It starts at sunset and goes on until sunrise the following day. It's one of the big celebrations we have. You will get to meet the entire family," explained Victorie.
"How many Veela is that exactly?" she asked.
"A few hundred," answered Astrid, smiling at Hermione's look of shock.
"Wow you have a massive family." She was shocked, it made her family seem miniscule in comparison.
"There will be an exam for you where you are tested on everyone's names," smirked Sabine, a glint in her eye.
"Shut up Sabine," growled Fleur.
Sabine's eyes flickered dangerously. Hermione felt Fleur tense beside her on the sofa. All the cousins were sat on the edge of their seats, ready to jump into the fray if they needed to. Hermione half-expected Sabine to throw herself at Fleur, but instead she bowed her head in respect and looked out the window. The cousins all relaxed and watched Sabine closely out the corners of their eyes. Corinne leant forward and whispered something in her sister's eyes. Before turning and smiling at Hermione.
"Our apologies Hermione and I apologise for my sister." She glared at Sabine, who averted her gaze. "I'm afraid we Veela can behave rather like pack animals on occasions. You will get used to it."
Hermione was confused by everyone's behaviour and made a mental note to speak to Fleur about it later.
"What are the plans for the beach tomorrow?" asked Hermione, trying to steer the conversation away and distract Fleur, who was still tense next to her. Hermione knew the blonde well enough to know that Fleur was angry.
Hermione reached out and brought Fleur's hand into her lap, stroking it. It had the desired effect and Hermione felt Fleur relax and cuddle up to her on the sofa. Hermione listened as Corinne and Victorie took turns explaining the plans for the beach the following day. All the while she felt Sabine watching her closely. She ignored her, but couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen.
She spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughing with Fleur, Gabrielle and their cousins. She found them all to be really nice and welcoming to her, so much so that she felt like she had known them for years. They were all so different and yet at the same time Hermione noticed similarities between them all. Hermione did notice that occasionally Fleur and Sabine would butt heads and when this happened all the others would immediately be on edge, looking ready to pounce. It would calm down and then the laughing and joking would resume. They were so easy to talk to, they all were, except for Sabine.
Soon enough Hermione found herself yawning and nearly falling asleep on Fleur's shoulder. The conversation had turned to France's Quidditch team, a topic of conversation that would always send Hermione to sleep. She supposed she had better get used to it, as it turned out the entire family was Quidditch mad. She jumped when Isabelle shouted.
"God, look at the time, we've been talking for hours."
Hermione looked at the clock and saw it was nearly midnight. No wonder she was feeling tired.
"Come on, time to get you to bed ma belle," whispered Fleur, placing a tender kiss on Hermione's forehead.
Hermione smiled and allowed herself to be pulled up off the sofa. She waved goodnight to all the cousins, who each wished Hermione good night and said how lovely the evening had been.
"You will fit right in here Hermione," smiled Helena, kissing Hermione on the cheek.
Hermione smiled and waved at them all and left the room. The scowl on Sabine's face did not escape her notice.
Her legs felt like lead as Fleur half-carried her up the stairs towards the blonde's room. Once inside the room Hermione threw herself down face first onto the soft bed, sighing in contentment. She felt a tugging on her leg and looked over her shoulder to see Fleur removing her shoes. She rolled over and began to undress, whilst Fleur went over to the dresser and removed some nightwear for the both of them.
"I had the house elves put your things away, I hope you don't mind," said Fleur, handing Hermione's nightwear over.
"Thank you," replied Hermione, failing to stifle a yawn.
She got changed and climbed into bed, snuggling under the silk sheets, sighing again at how comfortable the bed was. She waved her wand and applied a few cleansing spells. Fleur crawled under the sheets, immediately drawing Hermione against her body. They were silent for a moment, revelling in sharing a bed once more.
"Fleur?"
"Mmmm," came Fleur's sleepy reply.
"What was that, with Sabine I mean? It looked like everyone was ready to jump in and stop the two of you fighting."
Fleur sighed and sat up in bed. Hermione followed giving her girlfriend a curious look.
"Sabine is the oldest out of this generation, myself, Gabrielle and my cousins. Despite that I am the one who is the heir apparent and that's something Sabine does not like. She thinks as the oldest that she should be the heir to the family, but it doesn't work that way. My mother is the oldest out of my grandmother's daughters and I'm her oldest. Sabine just doesn't agree and likes to subtly, or not so subtly remind me."
Hermione nodded, beginning to understand Sabine's behaviour. "So why did the others react in the way they did?"
"Do you remember what Corinne said, about the pack mentality?" Fleur asked. Hermione nodded. "Well Veelas are pack animals, similar to wolves. We have an alpha and a strict hierarchy. It is not as primitive as with animals, but there is an alpha. At the moment that is my grandmother. She is the alpha of the entire Coven. To keep things simple it is like she is the Queen. I will be the next alpha, so in the hierarchy I will only submit to my grandmother or my mother. The others acted in the way they did and Sabine submitted, because I have a higher position within the Coven. Does that make sense?"
Hermione nodded, frowning slightly. "I think so, or at least I understand to a point, but I'm too tired to go further into. Maybe tomorrow?"
Fleur nodded. "Of course ma belle and I'm sure my grandmother can answer any of questions as well."
Hermione nodded, thinking to herself. "Why does Sabine hate me? I know you said to give as good as she gets, but I wasn't expecting that. I thought you meant she would be inappropriate with her humour."
Fleur sighed. "It is because of me. Now that I have a mate, the line is secure. No one will challenge me for leadership of the Coven. Rarely there will be a power struggle. A Veela can challenge an alpha and if they win they become the new alpha. It hasn't happened in centuries, but I believe Sabine thought she would have grounds for one if I did not have a mate because the bloodline would not be considered secure. You can't just challenge the alpha for the sake of it, you have to have a genuine reason."
Hermione bit her lip, wondering what kind of problems Sabine may cause.
"Please do not be worried ma belle. Sabine wouldn't dare try anything, not now. She has no grounds for a challenge and to be honest I don't think she would have done anyway. My grandmother keeps her in line, she just occasionally forgets herself. Her reaction to you was probably down to her being a sore loser. You should see when she loses at Quidditch," joked Fleur, nudging Hermione with her shoulder in an attempt at relieving the worry.
Hermione smiled weakly. "Are you sure?"
Fleur nodded and captured Hermione's lips in a kiss. "Positive. You will see what a sore loser she is when the annual Delacour Quidditch Tournament is held."
"You have a Quidditch Tournament?" said Hermione, disbelievingly.
"Oui," replied Fleur. "Every summer, it gets very competitive. It will be held the day after the Solstice celebration. Don't worry you won't have to play, but you can cheer for me."
Hermione couldn't help but smile at Fleur. Her girlfriend sure knew how to ease her worries.
"Now come on, let's sleep," said Fleur lying back down and wrapping Hermione up in her arms. "Tomorrow our summer together begins. We have a day at the beach to look forward to and I get to spend an entire day with you in a bikini."
"You're incorrigible," laughed Hermione.