Chapter I
Auror

"We are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves!" exclaimed Hermione. Her face flushing slightly as she gestured to the perfectly calm and collected woman that leaned against a wall adorned with McGonagall's various picture frames or trinkets. "We don't need a babysitter."

The Golden Trio had been summoned to the Transfiguration teacher's office shortly after the banquet that welcomed them back for their sixth year at Hogwarts. It was great to see familiar faces again in the Great Hall, even if many students had not come back due to their parents pulling them from Hogwarts, fearing the return of the Dark Lord. The tables didn't feel as crowded, but everyone Hermione cared about were there. Dumbledore addressed He Who Must Not Be Named's return, and about how he was slowly gathering followers and power. However, as long as Dumbledore lived, no one would ever harm his student and he would make sure of that. There was a brief mention of Aurors being stationed in Hogsmead as well as Hogwarts, and not to be too alarmed as they are here to protect them. Dumbledore then introduced the new Against The Dark Arts teacher position who is to be filled by Snape much to Harry's dismay, whereas Horace Slughorn would take Potions in Snape's stead.

Emotions were a little high that evening, but Hermione was absolutely exhausted and had just wanted to collapse in bed after a particular large treacle tart to drown out the news about Snape. When Mcgonagall beckoned them after dinner to her office, she was a little weary of starting the year with what she knew would be bad news.

All three of them followed her down the corridors of the stone halls to her office. There stood Dumbledore waiting them with that familiar twinkle in his eye as well as someone they did not exactly expect.

Fleur Delacour, a tall, and incredibly beautiful woman who was one of the four Triwizard Champions in their fourth year calmly leaned against the wall while waiting for introductions to be over with. She, too, didn't seem all that thrilled to be there, at least, that's what Hermione felt since the quarter Veela didn't exactly look like she was ever satisfied with anything. Fleur's hair seemed to glow despite the dim light in the room, and piercing blue eyes watched them carefully.

"Harry, it is so good to see you again," Fleur greeted Harry, flashing him and only him a smile. This bothered Hermione to no end, "I'm glad I found you on the train."

Ron and Hermione turned to Harry who had seemed to forget to tell them that Fleur was the one who found him before the Hogwarts Express left with him still in there. Draco had stunned and placed the invisibility cloak on his body before leaving. Harry had arrived in the Great Hall all battered and bruised right before Dumbledore's speech.

As it turned out, Mcgonagall informed them with pursed lips that they were to be watched by Fleur during their sixth year. This did not please Hermione at all, as she couldn't understand how Fleur had even managed to become an Auror at such a young age. Moreover, of all people why did she have to be the one to watch over them?

Fleur, sensing Hermione's displeasure spoke up, "It is not only Britain that is losing Aurors, but the entire world. Voldemort is gathering magical beasts from all over, and a lot of Aurors' life are sacrificed trying to stop him," her eyes shifted to Hermione. Ron winced at Voldemort's name. The brown-haired girl felt a little intimidated under that piercing gaze and fearless vocalization of The Dark Lord's name. She flushed slightly at the fact that Fleur did have a point and was probably going to be the reasonable one during this conversation. Her english seemed to have improved leaps and bounds since their last meeting. "I was the top of my graduating year, excelled in all subjects required from Le Bureau des Aurors. It was only natural that the approached me to be trained by one of France's top Aurors and then to join their ranks."

"So will you be literally following us around?" asked Hermione, matching Fleur's eyes with her own best attempt at an intimidating look. The corner of Fleur's lips curled into a little smirk. She knew she was getting under Hermione's skin already on their first meeting in what felt like ages.

"Miss Delacour will be stationed at Hogwarts and mostly overlooking the safety of all students here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore explained this time. "Her presence will hopefully encourage people to feel safe here. She will be strolling the grounds and help where she sees fit."

Harry ignored Hermione's insistent questions and thanked Fleur for being there. Hermione did have to give it to her for finding Harry in the Hogwarts Express, otherwise that would have been a horrible start to the school year. "Thanks Fleur. I sure do feel a lot safer with you here already."

"Yeah! I'll definitively ask you for help if I ever need any!" Ron's overly excited voice didn't help Hermione's mood one bit. He would be the most excited among them which was not a surprise to anyone.

And just like that, all of them were dismissed to their quarters. The brunette was the first to leave and lead the way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Unbeknownst to her frustrations, Fleur's eyes followed the irritated girl's silhouette until she disappeared at the turn down the hall.

The next day Hermione awoke with a start, hair unruly as ever. She groaned, not feeling one bit rested from the night before. Judging by the dim light in the room provided by the window, it was still quite early and no one was yet awake.

The young girl ran her fingers through her hair in attempts to break some of those stubborn knots as her mind reeled from a particular nightmare. Most of it already had started slipping her mind but all she could remember were the piercing blue eyes from Mcgonagall's office that had stared at her with such intensity that she couldn't remember if they were the same pair of eyes from the Triwizard Tournament. Now that she had a little bit of time to think about it, Fleur didn't hold that same air of naivety that she had so demonstrated back at that time. In fact, she seemed a lot more calm, collected, but most of all, that gleam that once graced her eyes with hope have all but vanished. It was now replaced with maturity beyond her years. She was, after all, only 18. Despite her age, Hermione couldn't help but remember how much Fleur had also grown physically. Her body had definitively gained in curves. Even while wearing modest, long overcoat befit of an Auror, her body definitively reflected what must have been hard physical training, as well as the elegance of what Hermione always admired and even yearned in a woman's form. She wore a white simple blouse and a dark grey, sleeveless formal vest, with golden trimmings which hugged her waist perfectly. It left much to the imagination despite the jacket that gave her quite an intimidating aura. What seemed like the youngest Auror to date definitively still had style.

"Ugh," the girl groaned. This wasn't what she wanted to think about at all. But it was hard not to. Thankfully she had accepted her sexuality in the last years and had even entrusted Ron, Harry, and Ginny with that personal part of hers. She felt incredibly lucky to have such supporting friends with all of what she felt was not important during her studies, but as time went on, Hermione couldn't deny her attraction to how women made her feel. Could she be imagining, or was Fleur's thrall definitively having a harder effect on her? Or was it simply because Fleur had matured and therefore, the thrall stronger? She didn't know much about the magical creature, but she did know that she wanted to stop thinking about it.

Hermione gingerly slid off of her bed and quickly brushed her teeth. She grabbed the robes that were thrown on her chair beside her desk from last night and went on her way towards the Great Hall for early breakfast.

As expected, no one was in the Great Hall yet. The enchanted sky that morning let off a nice soft glow from a sun that was about to break dawn. The witch took a seat at her usual spot at the Gryffindor table and was immediately greeted with a simple porridge topped with berries, and a copy of the Daily Prophet on the side of the bowl. The house elves had always appreciated her the most due to her efforts to save them from "slavery" as she called it, and greeted her with her usual simple breakfast even if she were the only one there. They were used to her being an early bird.

Something had caught Hermione's half lidded eyes as she picked up her spoon. On the front page of the Daily Prophet was a picture of what seemed like a Death Eater quickly sliding into a dark alley where he disappeared. It happened so fast that Hermione had only caught a glimpse of the hooded figure before it disappeared into the darkness never to resurface again. The headlines read: "Death Eaters last spotted in Bulgaria"

Bulgaria... Why Bulgaria? Her mind went over everything she knew about the country. Victor Krum had taken her to the Yule Ball after all. She remembered talking with him about his culture, and what he loved most about home. He loved Banitsa for breakfast as much as dessert for dinner, and loved diving in absolutely freezing water to retrieve a cross on the Muggle day called St. Yordan's day. Victor wasn't religious but he did love a good challenge. She did like that about him, but unfortunately, her dates with the Durmstrang Champion had sealed her doubts about female attraction. Victor was everything she had always thought she wanted in a man, but even then, she couldn't bring herself to feel much for the poor bloke. The young witch shook her head, "focus!" She knew today was going to be hard already.

Could the Death Eaters be after Durmstrang? She'd have to write to Krum to ask him how he's been and to keep an extra eye out just in case. They had remained friends even after she broke it off with him. Victor respected her wishes and didn't overstep after she revealed to him how she couldn't date him and he had remained a great friend ever since.

"Morning Hermione!" Ginny took a seat next to her, followed shortly by Harry and a half asleep Ron. Had she been lost in thoughts for that long? Hermione looked around and sure enough, the hall started to fill up and chatter rang throughout the vast room.

"What's new?" Harry asked as he took a plate and started reaching for toasts that the brunette had definitively not noticed appear on the table along with the usual breakfast foods for every morning at Hogwarts. Ron was already downing his first plate of bacon.

"It seems like they have spotted Death Eaters in Bulgaria," she replied, turning the paper over so Harry could get a good look. The man from the picture in a hood still hadn't returned, but the headlines were bold enough for Harry to see.

"Bulgaria? What could they want there?" Ron muttered after a large gulp, "do they want Krum to lead a flying fleet of Death Eaters?"

Hermione knew Ron had still been bitter about Krum asking Hermione out at the time. Even so, she rolled her eyes at his remark. "I'm more worried about Durmstrang's well being," Harry chided. "I hope their wizarding school upped the security there as well. You can never be too sure... But I still find it odd for them to be there. Could they want to recruit the students to their horrible cause?"

The bushy haired witch thought long and hard. It couldn't be. Durmstrang had already expressed their collective hatred for Voldemort and Death Eaters. Vowed to defeat them alongside Hogwarts if they have to especially after what had transpired during the Triwizard. Her thoughts then wondered, just like Ron and Harry had mentioned, could Krum be who they're after? His flying skills were exceptional but there was absolutely no way he would ever agree to that. Hermione then remembered the Death Eaters that had appeared at the Quidditch match just before their fourth year. And then...

Piercing blue eyes met the younger witch's own brown. Fleur appeared in the hall, striding gracefully to the Ravenclaw table. Their eyes had met for a split second, before the quarter Veela cheerfully greeted Cho Chang and sat next to her for breakfast. Hermione hadn't been the only one to notice, but most of the Great Hall had fell into silence to take her in. She could hear a Gryffindor first year who sat with his friends at the end of the table's breathing heavily.

Hermione's stomach sank and mouth dropped slightly as she just realized what Voldemort could be after, and why Fleur had perhaps chosen to become an Auror. It could also maybe explain why she wanted to come back to Hogwarts as a body guard for the school as well.

Veelas' native land were in Bulgaria.

AN: I'm not sure if there's still Fleurmione fans out there since the books have come out a long time ago, but I've had this story floating in my head for some time now. I've picked up the Audibles for the books and am not re-listening to them. It sure brings me back.

As for the title, it's a play on a French expression "Au Fil des Temps" which means "overtime". French is actually my first language so I'm excited to add a bit of expressions here and there, but not to over saturate it. I find that Fleur's accent was over-exaggerated in the books. All my friends from France don't have remotely an accent that stereotypical, and they've also admitted that Hollywood often stereotypes French people with that accent. Hollywood also sometimes doesn't hire actual French people to play a part, rather, they speech coach an American actor to speak with that over the top accent. Fun facts!