"So, Headmistress Krum, did you ever think you would be back here?"
"No, my love, I really never did. It is beautiful, though, isn't it?"
"It really is."
A Patronus shook the two of them out of their reverie. Luna's voice said, "Hermione, Viktor, we are almost ready for dinner. If you two would make your way to the Great Hall, I would appreciate it."
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After a very successful introduction of Hogwarts newest Headmistress and her husband the flying/Quidditch coach, as well as the Sorting and Welcoming Feast, the Krums found themselves in their chambers along with Deputy Headmistress Scamander, Head of Gryffindor and Herbology Professor Longbottom.
"So, Headmistress..."
"Please, I'm just Hermione unless there are students around."
Luna's smile rivaled the sun for its brightness. "So, Hermione, what were you and Viktor thinking about out by the lake?"
"We were just remembering everything that happened to us since the last time we were together by the Black Lake."
"Oh, could you tell us? It really has been so long since we've seen you. We were so afraid you weren't going to take the position, since Salem and Beauxbatons were both so interested."
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"All right, Luna. Well, you know that Viktor was helping the Light hide Muggleborn children in Bulgaria during the War, right?"
Luna and Neville nodded.
"Things got a little hairy there for a while, shortly after we won. Some of the Death Eaters were leaving to hide, both those that weren't that involved, and others that thought they could get away. It has always amazed me that the Malfoys and Rabastan Lestrange did not run. But since Harry and I were willing to testify for them, that helped quite a bit. As it was, Ron was angry that we were willing to do that at all, as was Ginny. But the war touched all of us, and acting just like those we had just defeated wasn't going to make us better in the long run. They weren't willing to understand that."
Hermione took a deep breath. Viktor rubbed her back soothingly. It was obvious that this was hard for them to think about, even after all these years.
"The break was difficult, considering how many expectations we were breaking, but by that point even Molly could see that neither Harry nor I were suited to the children she had hoped we would be. When Harry agreed to accompany me to Australia to fetch my parents, well, that was the final straw. Do you remember those stories in TheDailyProphet? The fact that they were refuted almost instantly by Molly and Arthur didn't really help. We knew then that we had lost our wizarding family. All Harry and I had was each other at that point."
Viktor interjected, "It was then that I asked Harry if he was willing to come to Bulgaria to help figure out placement for the children that we had rescued. He asked if it was all right for Hermione and her parents to accompany him, which was of course not only all right, but welcome."
Hermione took over again. "My parents had so much fun, working with the children, making sure their teeth were in good health and getting to visit the near-by Dragon Reserve. It was then that we noticed how much time Harry was spending with Charlie, but we figured it was time for him to find out all those things about himself he never had time to do before. We hadn't realized at the time that Pansy had been sent there for a work detail as her punishment."
Neville looked surprised at that. He hadn't had any trouble following the conversation back and forth from Hermione to Viktor, it was obvious that they were very much a unit, and spoke in turn quite well. "I hadn't realized that was where Harry took up with Pansy and Charlie. We all thought that happened quite a bit later."
Hermione giggled softly. "He didn't want to make it look like he took advantage. But anyone who knows them, knows quite well that Pansy got what she wanted."
"Harry told me that she just declared she was cold one day, and snuggled into bed between him and Charlie. She refused to leave after that."
All of them laughed at Viktor's dead-pan delivery of that bit of gossip.
Hermione smiled at her spouse. "Yes, well, placing all those children was difficult, to say the least, but we got some unlikely people to take them. Rabastan Lestrange had a secret family, with two children. Those are the ones that Severus raised. There were countless others, some raised by family, some who went to homes where people were kind enough to take them in and see them well. We used a combination of Arithmancy, Runes and even Veratiserum when we were unsure of someone's motives. Actually, Pansy was very helpful with all of that. She was trying to ensure that she could keep her younger sisters, but we would have probably let that happen no matter what."
"It was a delight to see Hermione's passion about those children. And it was more of a delight to rekindle our romance. Since Weasley was out of the picture, it was easy to join Hermione in her studies or calculations, and to make her take breaks. That is when I taught her to fly, you know." Viktor thought back with a smile.
"How did you manage that, Viktor?" Luna fairly bounced out of her seat asking the question.
"I started off easy. I bet her that I could not only teach her to fly, but she would enjoy it. You know Hermione has never backed off from a challenge."
"He's not telling you the half of it. First, he never once told me I was silly for being scared. He started off low to the ground, and let me get used to maneuvering the broom about ten feet up. Then he joined me, and showed me the wonders of a bird's eye view, which yes, I enjoyed while snuggled up to him. After I was used to just flying about for fun, he had me learn to maneuver while putting on some speed. The best part was when I won a race against Charlie and Harry. Now, I know I would probably never manage that again, but the sight of me on Viktor's Firebolt pretty much gave me a great advantage at the start."
"And of course, you enjoyed all the other things you can do on a broom together, right?"
"Luna!"
"Oh, Neville, don't be such a stick in the mud. These two have been happily married for all these years because they never let things get stale. Even if they don't answer, those grins on their faces are pretty much an answer in themselves."
Hermione and Viktor smiled at each other in that way of old happily married couples. Of course they enjoyed all the delights a broom had to offer. They certainly had never passed up an opportunity to try something new with each other.
"Well, once we realized how good we were together, we decided to get married quietly. Harry, Pansy and Charlie were our only guests, along with our parents. Things were going really well until Ron showed up in Romania." Hermione grimaced at the thought.
Viktor was still visibly upset by the thought. "Wasn't that a horror? I still don't see why you and Harry refused to press charges."
"It wasn't our place. No one in Bulgaria or Romania believed his drunken rants, and no paper in England wanted to insult Harry, so it was kept quiet." Hermione quietly remonstrated to Viktor.
"He almost killed a dragonet, just because he was told, by his insane sister no less, that if he used blood from a live Chinese Fireblood dragonet in a version of Amortentia, he could bind you to him."
"You know as well as I do that it wouldn't work because we were already married. And Ginny can't hold a candle to Pansy in the 'stay away from my man or I will hurt you' department. Not to mention what Charlie did to her and Ron."
"That was fun to watch, actually."
"Please, tell us already. I'm dying of anticipation here!"
"All right, Neville. The Reserve filed charges against both of them, which stuck. Neither Harry nor I were stupid enough to drink anything they gave us, so that plan went straight down the drain. But the best part was what Charlie asked the Dragon Master if he could do before they were sent to the dung processing plant. He had a large chair set up in the middle of the encampment at the reserve, and one at a time, took each of his siblings over his knee, pulled their pants down and gave them twenty swats with a bare hand. He didn't hold anything back. Both their bright red bare bums were in all the papers the next morning." Viktor smiled at the memory.
"After that, I think all of our 'exploits' made the papers. I was pregnant with Sergei when Viktor won the World Cup for Bulgaria. Elizabeta came right after Severus and I discovered the cure for lycanthropy. And Selene, well, Luna, you know all about our bonus baby."
"How was I to know that breathing in Crumple-Horned Snorkack pheremones overcame all birth control?"
"She was quite welcome, actually. All of them were. The Healers were suprised that Hermione could bear children at all after all of the damage that Dolohov did to her."
"It was the one thing that almost kept us apart. I didn't know if I could give Viktor a family, and I didn't want to deny him the chance. It was why I knew for a fact that Ron would never want to be with me. He wanted to recreate the life he had growing up. But he was obsessed, and that was kind of scary."
"You are my family love. You hold my heart. The children? Yes, I love them with all my being. But I would have never traded off being with you for the possibility of them."
On that note, Luna and Neville took their leave. They had heard the rest of Hermione and Viktor's exploits over the years.
"That was such a sweet story, don't you think, Neville?"
"Yes. He always loved her, and the fact that he just was happy to be around her while she did what she loved proves that true feelings are so much stronger than obsession. Ron never would have made her happy."
"I agree. And sometimes the best place to start the romance of a lifetime is with a friend." On that note, Luna took Neville's hand and smiled up at him. Both of them had lived through tragedy. Maybe they could use Viktor and Hermione as inspiration.
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Many thanks to Annie Talbot for the beta! I appreciate you taking the time out of your cleaning more than you can know.
This story was written for Kyria of Delphi, to give her something to read while she was recovering.
Kyria's request: Something with Viktor and Hermione looking back on the years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and how they got together again.