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"Well, if you insist," Harry drawled, giving her a look of long-suffering in response to her exasperation. She laughed and rolled her eyes before directing a baleful glare at him. Harry decided now might be the best time to be serious.
"To be honest," Harry mused after a moment, "I don't know what to think about it. I mean, it was done without my approval—something I'll be talking to Sirius about, I can tell you—but I'm also sure it was done with my best interests at heart. Jean-Sebastian and I had a talk after the trial, and he explained some of his motivations and his concerns for Fleur, so I understand why he did it."
"You'll have to tell me about it sometime."
"Of course."
It went without saying that there would be no secrets between Hermione and himself—they had never had any in the past, and he would not start distancing himself from her now, regardless of the existence of a marriage contract.
"I suppose I just have to think of it as an opportunity to expand my horizons and make connections outside of England—an alliance with one of the premier families of France is no small matter, and it may help some day against Voldemort."
He grinned somewhat mischievously at her before continuing, "You should be proud of me; I thought of that all by myself!"
Harry ducked as Hermione swatted at him in a playful manner, grinning the entire time like a Cheshire cat.
"On the other hand," he continued, in a somewhat more serious manner than before, "I don't really know Fleur. I mean, Jean-Sebastian explained a little about what her life has been like and why she is the way she is, but I have two memories of her which stand out in my mind: her snooty tone when she called me a little boy after my name came out of the goblet and the huge hug she gave me after I came out of the water with her sister. How am I to merge those two images in my head? It's almost like it was two different people."
"I understand," Hermione said with a nod. "I guess you have no choice but to get to know her."
"Yeah. That's one of the reasons why Jean-Sebastian wants to go back to France tonight. He told me to ask Fleur about herself and get to know her without any preconceived notions. He didn't want to tell me about her; he wanted me to get it straight from her. He did tell me, though, that her arrogance is a mask and that she has trouble meeting people due to being a Veela. I need to get her perspective before I can know what she is like."
"It makes sense, Harry."
"I know." He sighed and looked at the ground. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I? She's my fiancée now—I'd better get to know her."
That truth acknowledged, they sat in companionable silence for several moments. Although so much had changed in the past few hours, Harry was happy, knowing that no matter what happened, he could always count on the support of his closest friends, especially Hermione. He supposed he would eventually have to transfer his allegiance to Fleur, but for now, Hermione was by far the most important person in his life.
"So what's with Ginny and Mrs. Weasley?" he asked after a moment's thought. "They seemed offended about something."
Hermione just shook her head and gazed fondly at her friend. "Honestly, Harry, you boys are completely thick about some things, aren't you?"
"When it comes to girls, you bet," Harry shot back. "Like Ron says, 'daft—completely daft!'"
This, of course, earned him a roll of Hermione's eyes. "If you'd open your eyes once in a while, you wouldn't think that. They were mad about your change in status, dear Harry. You must have noticed Ginny has had a crush on you forever, and Mrs. Weasley has been eying you as potential son-in-law material for just as long. Longer, I would think, since she told bedtime stories of you to Ginny when she was little."
Harry's eyes felt like they were bugging out of his sockets. "Ginny?" he sputtered incredulously. "How… I mean… what… But I hardly know her! And she's never in the room long enough for me to talk to her or anything. She just squeaks and runs off!"
"And what do you think that means?"
Harry was certain his expression was comical, given Hermione's giggles, but he was not certain where she was going with this.
"She's shy? Or she doesn't like me?"
A huff of irritation met his declaration, and he got the distinct impression Hermione thought him rather slow.
"Harry, do you even use that thing on the top of your shoulders? It's amazing you can even see Ron's feelings for me."
An even more confused Harry stared open-eyed at his friend. "Come on, Hermione, Ron is obvious, considering the way he was watching us and the cow eyes he makes at you when he thinks you're not looking. Besides, he implied as much to me several times, no doubt trying to warn me away from you."
"Oh, he did, did he?" Hermione responded, her voice flat and disapproving. "Maybe I'll need to have a talk with Mr. Weasley and let him know I don't appreciate his claim on me like I was some sort of… object or something."
That was certainly something Harry did not want to deal with—Harry had learned over the years they had been friends to stay out of Ron and Hermione's arguments, not to mention the fact that Ron would be infuriated if he knew the content of this conversation. "If you do, you heard nothing from me!"
A withering glance once again flew in his direction, but Hermione said nothing further on the subject—she merely huffed yet again and directed her gaze at Harry, her manner suggesting she considered him to be somewhat of a simpleton.
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