Hermione was standing with an arm easily around Fleur's slim waist as they talked to Harry and Ginny. Hermione was beyond content. Things were back on track with the blonde, there was no media to be seen, and her best friends were with her.

Fleur shifted beside her.

"Are your feet getting sore standing in those heels?" Hermione asked.

"A little," Fleur admitted.

"We can head home whenever you want," Hermione offered. Fleur smiled at her.

"Ohhhh the party's really starting now!" Dean shouted, lifting a beer in the air.

The front door had opened and a huge group of Hogwarts previous alumni entered. Hermione recognised a large number of faces. Lee Jordan, Roger Davies, Cho Chang, a large number of former Ravenclaws.

Hermione's stomach sank as she noticed some Slytherins tagging along with the Ravenclaws. Graham Montague was walking in with an amiable arm around Blaise Zabini. Pansy was standing on Blaise's other side, gossiping animatedly to Daphne Greengrass.

Fleur seemed to notice she had stiffened, her eyes flicking from Hermione to the large group of partygoers entering. She registered the Slytherins, her eyes then glancing to Ginny and Luna with concern.

The two were adorably ignorant of their surroundings, happily chatting about plans for the coming weekend.

Hermione frowned. She didn't want Ginny to have to go through all the drama she'd gone through after taking a Slytherin's ex-girlfriend.

"We can go now, if you would prefer," Fleur said softly into Hermione's ear.

Hermione's frown disappeared with Fleur's words. She kissed Fleur on her cheek, smiling.

"I'll behave, mon amour," Hermione smiled, liking the way Fleur's eyes lit up at the French words, "I'd like to stay just long enough to make sure Ginny and Luna are okay with Blaise here."

"Okay, I trust you, belle," Fleur smiled, flipping her gorgeous blonde hair over one shoulder.

"You can sit down, though," Hermione said, gesturing to a nearby couch, "I know those heels can't be comfortable."

"The heels aren't comfortable, but they are beautiful," Fleur purred, sitting fluidly down on the couch.

"I'll get us another round of drinks," Hermione said, heading off into the kitchen.

She had an ulterior motive, of course. She was hoping to run into the Slytherins and get a gauge of their mood before Ginny ran into them.

Sure enough, slouched against the countertops in the kitchen was Montague, Blaise, Pansy, Daphne and Roger Davies.

"Oooh Granger incoming," Montague guffawed, "Watch out, man. She's already had Pansy and Davies' leftovers."

Hermione rolled her eyes. At least there was no venom in his voice. It seemed like they were in reasonable spirits.

Hermione grabbed a beer for herself and then a bottle of wine. She began to pour Fleur's glass of wine, watching the Slytherins carefully out of the corner of her eye. They were joking around together but she could see Blaise's eyes roaming the room, clearly trying to seek out Luna amongst the crowd of people there.

Pansy, on the other hand, had already spotted Fleur across the room and was openly staring at her. It was unfortunate that Fleur had dressed in an extra-devastating manner to punish Hermione earlier. It was surely just an extra twist of the knife for Pansy.

Fleur seemed oblivious, her long legs crossed and leaning back elegantly to listen to Harry tell her something.

Hermione, satisfied that the Slytherins were not about to boil over, took the drinks and headed back to Fleur. She sat down on the couch beside the blonde, handing her the wine. Fleur kissed her on the cheek to thank her, her hand sliding subconsciously to rest on Hermione's inner thigh. Hermione liked the possessive move.

She sipped at her chilled beer, watching her friends in front of them. Harry and Ron had now devolved into some kind of playfight, much to the amusement of Neville. Luna was excitedly planning the trip to search for Nargles with a reluctant looking Ginny. Hermione smirked at that.

"Erm, maybe I'll go get a drink," Ginny said, backing away from her crush and rubbing the back of her neck.

"I'll come with you," Hermione said, immediately standing up.

Fleur looked a little confused, but Hermione shot her a look that she would share all later. The truth was she didn't want hot-headed Ginny walking right into a nest of Slytherins in the kitchen.

Ginny had headed off at pace, obviously eager to wriggle out of a commitment to search for Nargles. Hermione hurried to catch up with her, only managing to do so once she had reached the kitchen.

In an unfortunate twist, the kitchen had cleared of everyone except Blaise and Pansy, the very people Hermione didn't want to run into.

"Oh great," Ginny groaned, rolling her eyes.

Blaise frowned at her, crossing his arms tightly across his chest.

"Weasley," he hissed.

Hermione inwardly hoped Ginny would show the restraint that she had urged Hermione to show back with all the Pansy difficulties.

"Don't you two have anything better to do? You know, like maybe find some girlfriends that actually want to be with you?" Ginny shot at them.

Hermione's stomach sank.

Pansy and Blaise looked thunderous.

"You know, I have some very intimate photos I've been holding back on," Pansy said with a sneer, "Would be a shame if those made it out to Witch Weekly."

"Hey," Ginny growled, stepping forward.

Hermione grabbed Ginny by the arm, pulling her back.

"Gin, just get your drink and go. I want to have a word with these guys on my own." Hermione said firmly.

Ginny shot Hermione a wary look.

"You sure?" Ginny asked cautiously.

Hermione nodded, shooting Ginny a meaningful look.

Ginny frowned, grabbing a drink forcefully and sloping off.

"What? You wanted to gloat in private?" Blaise asked, scowling at Hermione.

"No… I wanted to ask if you were okay," Hermione said gently, "Both of you."

Blaise and Pansy raised their eyebrows.

"Is this a joke?" Pansy asked, frowning.

"No… I know… I know how painful it is to see a woman you have strong feelings for on the arm of someone else," Hermione said, swallowing heavily, "Blaise, Luna never cheated on you. She isn't even in a relationship with Ginny yet. She doesn't want to be inconsiderate of your feelings. Like I was of your feelings, Pansy."

"What do you mean?" Pansy asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I mean I shouldn't have rubbed my relationship with Fleur in your face," Hermione replied, "Showing up to Blaise's party with her… I just assumed since you had flaunted your relationship with her, it was fair game. But it wasn't. You had the guts to ask her out when I didn't. When she broke up with you, I should have been more considerate of your feelings."

"I… Wow, Granger," Pansy managed, "Do you really mean that? I was pretty smug when I was dating her."

"Who wouldn't be?" Hermione shrugged, "Look, I just wanted to say sorry."

She turned to leave and Blaise put a hand on her shoulder.

"Luna really cares about my feelings?" he asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Hermione nodded.

"You're important to her, even if she doesn't want to be with you anymore. She would never intentionally hurt you." Hermione said.

Blaise nodded, looking as stunned as Pansy.

Satisfied, Hermione walked back to the couch where Fleur was sat. Ginny immediately sat down on her other side.

"What was that about?" Ginny asked.

"Clearing the air," Hermione shrugged, "I apologised for being careless of Pansy's feelings and told Blaise that Luna isn't trying to hurt him with what she's doing with you."

"Why?" Ginny asked, "They were awful. Pansy was hardly a treat to you when she was dating Fleur."

"I'm trying to be the bigger person for once," Hermione explained.

Fleur smiled proudly at her.

"Shall we head home?" Fleur asked. Hermione smiled and nodded.

"I'll catch you guys later," Hermione said distractedly to her friends. She got up from the couch, reaching a hand out chivalrously to Fleur. Fleur took her hand and Hermione hoisted her up from the couch.

After they had got home, Fleur had got changed into a more comfortable outfit of jeans and a sweater.

Now they were walking along the small beach, hand in hand. It was a little chilly, but it was nice walking under the stars. The crashing of the waves made a perfect change to the loud music at Dean's party.

"What made you change your attitude towards Pansy?" Fleur asked. Her hair was loose and fluttering behind her wildly in the breeze.

Hermione sighed and smiled. She tightened her grip on Fleur's hand.

"I've made a lot of mistakes with us," Hermione replied, "I'm not very good at… This."

"Relationships?" Fleur asked, a smile playing at her lips.

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "And everything that comes with them. The jealousy, the fear, the unpredictability… There's so much unknown territory out there."

"But, we're both working through it together," Fleur said gently, squeezing Hermione's hand, "What made you apologise to Pansy? She was goading you a bit."

Hermione smiled.

"Honestly? The torture of the past few days," Hermione admitted, "That and thinking back to how hard it was seeing Pansy with you when you two were dating. It kind of made me realise how painful it must be for her to see us out and about together."

"Mon amour, you are so considerate," Fleur responded, beaming, "The amount you have grown even just during our short relationship is wild. You constantly amaze me."

Hermione stopped walking, pulling Fleur close to her. She leaned in and kissed Fleur's soft lips. Now Fleur wasn't wearing her high heels and they were the same height, it was much easier to kiss her.

Hermione's lips parted and Fleur's tongue entered her mouth. Fleur's hands tangled into Hermione's brunette curls as they kissed passionately. Parting, Hermione smiled and rested her forehead against Fleur's.

"You know, you have grown a lot as well," Hermione murmured, "You used to be far more closed off. You've been learning to share a lot more."

"I want to share with you," Fleur smiled, "It's hard, but I'm getting better at it."

Hermione beamed.

She took Fleur's hand again and they walked up the sandy path back to the little cottage. Getting back inside the house, the two of them prepared for bed.

Hermione threw herself back in the bed, pulling the covers up. She was feeling relaxed, truly relaxed for the first time in a long time.

Fleur climbed in the bed after her, snaking an arm around her waist and resting her head on Hermione's chest. Her blonde hair tickled Hermione's nose.

"What are you thinking about, mon amour?" Fleur asked quietly, her voice heavy with sleepiness.

"Just taking a moment to be grateful," Hermione sighed. She tightened her arm around Fleur's shoulders.

"Je t'aime," Fleur said, before yawning.

"Je t'aime, Fleur."