Hermione Granger studied the figure in front of her. She was sitting on the floor, facing the full length mirror in the dorm room. Either Lavender or Parvati had brought it, probably the former. She couldn't help but stare and stare, appraising the new features intimately. This was her; a tiny semi-white furball. And it was her first time actually seeing herself in this particular form.

It was a Saturday. It had been such a lovely day so far, given the start of colder weather, and Hermione was spending it in her dormitory. At the moment anyways. She'd woken up unusually early and had gone to breakfast before Lavender and Parvati could even think about getting dressed. She had been in the middle of enjoying the walk back when a rather sudden thought popped into her head, disturbing all the other thoughts and ideas floating about.

She had yet to see herself with what she deemed her winter coat. So she had raced down the stairs and proceeded to slow her gait so as to not attract much attention. She managed to glimpse her roommates as they were headed to the Great Hall, so there was some more relief there. And now she was here, smaller and more fragile.

Her roommates were often in the room when Hermione was and left when she left. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it irritated Hermione on the occasions that she wanted some privacy, which was vastly different from peace and silence - a simple silencing charm around her poster bed would suffice. Her wand lay next to her, useless at the moment, save for a Sensorem Hermione had cast beforehand on the door and adjacent hallway. It would vibrate to alert her of any incoming and unexpected guests.

For now, however, she was alone. She curled up, unexpectedly enjoying the comfort her snowy tail provided as she rested her head on it. She thought she might've looked like a tiny dog, were it not for the snout. Though short, it still managed to come across as delightfully and most certainly foxlike. Her head was still a rather dark color, as were her forelegs. Half and half, she thought, rather amused. The fur around her face was beginning to change to white so she looked rather grey. Though she seemed to have some pseudo eyebrows and she squeaked in laughter.

With all her fur puffing up, her ears looked roundish and small. They swiveled this way and that as she listened intently to the most innocent of sounds. The whispering wind outside, the cackling creak of Parvati's open window moving about.

She stood up then, moving forward until her wet nose touched the mirror and left a mark. Her eyes were what fascinated her this time. The contrast between her winter coat and her ochre eyes was striking. Thin slits were placed in the middle of honeyed eyes. Almost like ants in amber, she thought vaguely, awed and amazed at her newfound form. No wonder Fleur liked to search for her amongst the trees and newly fallen snow. She (really) liked to jump, so it was a game of hers to attempt to surprise the older student.

She was in the process of lifting a greyed paw to the mirror when her wand began to vibrate, effectively startling her. She'd have a few seconds at most, half a minute at best. She reached over to touch her wand but it skittered past among the floorboards when she touched it. No use crying about it, she wouldn't be able to hold it at the moment anyways.

Instead, she ran to her poster bed and crouched in preparation for a high jump (which she was rather capable of, she had delightfully discovered). Once on the bed, she concentrated on trying to get back to her human form, ignoring the other stimuli that were quickly approaching. It took a second or two longer in her mild panic but she reappeared sitting on the edge of the bed, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She blinked as her eyes landed on her untied left shoe. She crouched down on the floor as she tied it and the girls finally came bursting through the door.

"-and then he said-"

"-Hermione? What're you doing on the floor?" Parvati interrupted what was probably a most riveting conversation, courtesy of Lavender.

"Oh. I, um.. dropped my wand," she replied, attempting to shuffle around and look as though she was indeed looking for it. "Dragon heartstring, you know how it is."

They did know how it was. There were a few times that they had seen her wand 'act up', so to say. Although dragonheart string was temperamental on its own, Hermione's hazel wood tended to exacerbate a few of the flare ups. Though this typically happened when Hermione was mad at Ron or frustrated with schoolwork.

Parvati eyed the floor and spotted the intricate carving of her roommate's wand to her left. She crouched down to pick it up and was greeted with some sort of electrifying caress that went up her arm before it disappeared into smaller tingles. Eyes wide, she nearly dropped it again in her surprise. Merlin, that was new! She had once touched Hermione's wand after its owner had a spat with Ron and was greeted with a… push that time, not dissimilar to a slap. She glanced over at Hermione with the beginnings of a hunch. She seemed neither upset, nor annoyed with homework, this time. Interesting.

Hermione watched the transaction with curiosity, mumbling a "Sorry about that," when she saw startled expression on Parvati's face. She stood up, dusting herself off as she did so, and took her wand with a grateful smile.

Shoot. Privacy no more, Hermione made the executive and predictable decision of going to the library. She gathered up her book bag and stuffed whatever book that was lying on the bed inside of it. "Well, I'm-"

"Off to the library?"

"Yes," Hermione replied automatically and blushed lightly at her roommate's question. She just wanted some quiet place to be and this was neither quiet nor secluded at the moment. For once in her life, she was unsure about going to the library. Two particular Triwizard Champions were frequently at the library; as were their ever growing fans, something that irritated Hermione to no end. Couldn't they observe their targets elsewhere? Why the library not sacred!?

No, of course not. Despite this, she sympathized with both Victor and Fleur. She had seen them sitting in new locations at various times. One time they had even sat together, looking as though they were in deep discussion. This fueled the fans for days and Hermione had avoided the library for a short time after that memorable occurrence.

She had thought about asking Fleur about it but in the end, she had deemed it none of her business - curiosity be damned. If Fleur wanted to volunteer that information, that was on her.

With all of her important items in hand, she waved at her roommates and left the room. Library. If not the library then where? Her lips inched downwards as she thought back to Parvati's innocent comment, a furrow forming in between her brows. She was predictable! Though the thought normally would not have bothered her (she loved routine after all), it did so now. Ron's words over the years came back to her in that following moment and she stalked forward faster.

She could.. She could be spontaneous! Anyone catching a glimpse of the irritated Hermione would've noticed how a few tendrils of curls were floating, maybe even crackling slightly. Hermione remained oblivious as she worked herself into a mood.

Hogsmeade! That's what she decided on. And seeing how she was heading in the opposite direction, she turned abruptly. It was a few steps in this direction before she turned a corner and a warm body collided with her. She scrunched her eyes shut and bunched up her shoulders in anticipation. She started to fall forward but was steadied by firm hands on her shoulders. Unfortunately, the other person seemed unprepared for her momentum and they teetered backwards for one long moment. Feeling that, Hermione blindly reached out and grasped whatever she found in an attempt to stabilize them both. Elbows, she thought, but she hasn't opened her eyes yet.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry!" She finally opened her eyes now and found herself dangerously close to Fleur Delacour's lovely face. She flushed instantly (she can feel it on the tips of her ears) due to their proximity.

"Bonjour Hermione," Fleur greeted her, a little too cheerful perhaps and with a smile as though Hermione hadn't just barreled into her. Neither girl had yet let go, Hermione noticed. She let go of Fleur's elbows as though they burned her. And now her fingers were curled loosely and her arms were hanging in the air in front of her and Hermione thought she must look ridiculous.

Fleur's arms slid down from their position on her shoulders down to the crook of her elbows. "Relax," she squeezed in what she hoped was a comforting gesture before letting go.

"Oh, but I just crashed into you! I'm sorry," Hermione again apologized. She felt rather embarrassed. She's only ever bumped into people a handful of times and never like this. It was common knowledge that Hermione could walk around Hogwarts with her nose buried in a book and not stumble into students and ghosts alike. Unbeknownst to Ron, Hermione probably knew about as many secret passages ways and empty classrooms as Fred and George did. Harry had more than a strong notion that she did.

"Ma chérie, I'm fine, am I not?" Fleur spread her arms wide to show Hermione that absolutely no damage had been done.

"Well I suppose so," Hermione mumbled and scrunched up her nose slightly in confusion.

And there it was again! A nickname! Hermione's blush that was beginning to die down flared up again. Early on since meeting, Fleur had begun with the nicknames and terms of endearment and would gauge the younger girl's reaction to them. Fleur seemed to have more than an inkling that her brunette counterpart knew some French. And that was a fair assumption - Hermione would hum in agreement or make noise in disagreement when Fleur would comment about something or other in French.

Hermione had gone to France just last year and like most other academic things she did, she threw herself into the language headfirst. Her parents had been more than willing to indulge her request that they only speak in French in the afternoons when they were just beginning to learn. Dinner was a quiet affair until their vocabulary grew. Hermione was the one who wanted to learn the language, even before their plans of such a trip were finalized. And when they went to visit the French branch of Grangers, Hermione was happily chattering away with cousins her age. She felt included and a part of something; it was a rather nice feeling.

Still, there were some items to be excluded; such as idioms and phrases, pet names too. Why would she need to know those when most likely she would be asking for directions and how much something cost? It was only now that she had run into this charming French girl that she regretted not learning such phrases. She'd have to owl her parents for her phrase book or an idiom dictionary.

"See? No harm done," the blonde witch insisted and continued teasing as they walked, "So what is Hermione doing out of the library today?"

Said girl scowled again briefly, Parvati's words coming to mind. She faced Fleur with a determined smile and upraised eyebrows, "I'm being spontaneous."

"Oh? So you don't always crash into pretty girls?" Fleur kept ambling along at their current and easy pace. If there was any indication that she noticed that Hermione had stopped abruptly, she didn't show it.

"What? No! Of course not. It's only you, anyways." Fleur's a friend now, she can say that, right? She takes a moment to think of all the people she's recently crashed into. While she can navigate Hogwarts perfectly, she could not say the same for other people. Parkinson when Hermione had come speeding out from a shortcut. Cho Chang had bumped into her once when Hermione's stack of books had become precariously tall and blocked her vision. At least she had helped to pick them up. Colin Creevey had blinded her with his camera's flash and she had tripped over his small body. Draco whenever he pulled a trick. There, she crashed into boys, not just pretty girls. Too deep in her thoughts, she almost missed what Fleur had to say when she tuned back in.

"Ah, I see, I see," Fleur nodded sagely when Hermione caught up to her, "You've made it a habit to crash into me."

"No, no. That's not what I meant either. Stop teasing, you-you...you fiend!" Hermione lightly slapped Fleur's shoulder but at least she was laughing now, Fleur happily observed. She had wondered if Hermione was upset, with the way she had knocked the taller witch over easily.

"A fiend? What's that?" The blonde witch was going to reply with something more...witty, but the unknown word had thrown her off. She could guess, of course, or look it up later but Hermione was here. The most adorable walking encyclopedia.

"Well, it's a tall blonde person who teases younger girls relentlessly," Hermione cleverly responded, unsure of how Fleur could possibly twist those words around to make a joke.

"Younger girls?" Fleur feigned a thoughtful look, complete with a little chin rubbing. "Ah! You mean Gabrielle. Why, yes, of course but only when a prank of hers goes wrong."

Cheeky witch. Hermione made sure Fleur was looking at her when she gave her a massive eye roll. Now it was Fleur's turn to playfully scold Hermione. "Now, now Hermione, that's just bad manners."

It probably was. She might've picked it up from Vanessa. She was the spunkier of her two aunts.

Ouch. The bushy haired witch brought a hand to her chest, where her cardigan opened up.

Instantly, Fleur looked concerned, stooping slightly to attempt to check her out for any visible troubles. "Mon amie, what's wrong?"

In lieu of an answer, Hermione unbuttoned the first button on her sweater and reached in. She pulled out her wand from a sewn in pocket. It vibrated slightly, practically demanding an outlet of sorts for all of its energy. Fleur looked on quizzically, but with less concern as Hermione didn't seem to be in immediate danger.

The owner thought it had already discharged its leftover energy when Parvati picked it up. Oh well. "C'mon on, then." She gave it a swish and a flourish, happy colorful sparks leaving the tip of her wand as she did so.

"I suppose even my wand thinks it's bad manners." She rolls her eyes again but less in an exaggeration and more good naturedly. Her wand doesn't act up this time.

"Does it do that often?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Dragonheart string and hazel wood make for a fiery personality." She wondered what set it off this time while she stored it back into its designated pocket. And in doing so, was finally reminded of what she was doing before Fleur crashed into her.

"Fleur?"

"Oui?" said witch looked up attentively at the drop of her name.

Hermione paused, debating how to phrase it. She was known for her bluntness so might as well use that to her advantage. "I was heading to Hogsmeade when you crashed into me. Would you... like to accompany me?"

"Oui, I'd love to. Are you going to give me the grand tour?"

"I'm sure you've already been..." Hermione waved off her inquisition.

"Yes, maybe so, but I have not had the Hermione Tour."

"Oh, stop that." Bashful, it was now Hermione's turn to speed up and leave Fleur behind.

There was a silence as her blonde counterpart caught up with her before Fleur responded. "I accept your apology, by the way."

"Apology? What apology?" Her voice had reached a higher pitch as she sounded rather incredulous, the French girl thought with no shortage of glee.

"For crashing into me, of course. And now you're taking me to Hogsmeade as an apology. How charming!"

Fleur was careful to hide her smile, biting down on her bottom lip as she heard Hermione sputter at Fleur's gall to insinuate that this may or may not be an apology date.

000

A/N - Apologies to those waiting for chapter 9 of UL. I started a WIP while I still had another WIP. I have big plans (smaller than UL but big nonetheless) for this fic and it's going to be wholesome af. Not here for too much drama/angst. This was merely a taste to hook you all in. Next chapter shall take place at the very beginning and continue on from there. This is an AU, if that wasn't clear yet. I shall reveal details of the AU next chapter. Fleur/Hermione in case y'all thought they were just 'gal pals.' I have some other ships in mind but nothing set in stone. Apologies to those hoping for quick updates. This is my side project to my other fic but rest assured that it won't be dropped. Enjoy!