Title: Those Among Us
Author: MrsRobot
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters and receive no profit from this work.
Warnings: Sexual content, language, etc.
Author's Note: Finally, here is the edit of the first part. I like this a whole deal more, after taking out all the bad parts of writing, and adding some better material. Again, this is part one of a three part short story. Thanks for reading; please follow and review! Much love, MrsRobot.
Summary: Viktor Krum and Hermione Granger will reunite in Hogwarts once more for a remembrance dinner in memory of Cedric Diggory. Hermione might be married and a mother, but Viktor's not-so-innocent intentions won't be tethered by societal boundaries. Hermione is, of course, a righteous lady but breaking the rules from time to time doesn't hurt anyone, right?
Part One – For the Big Shot
(Siаna, 2015, За големия)
To this day, Viktor Krum is Bulgaria's most treasured Quidditch player. Tall, muscular, and moderately flexible, Krum breaks the stereotype that lanky and miniscule players turn into the best Seekers. Though not in his absolute prime anymore, the 'Bulgarian bon-bon,' as Rita Skeeter once had the audacity to call him, is still highly coveted and requested by several Quidditch teams in the big leagues.
It is due to his numerous accomplishments and generally positive agenda that he is invited to the Triwizard Tournament '94 Remembrance dinner at Hogwarts, Scotland. Naturally, the wizard accepts the invitation, if only to pay tribute to fellow champion, Cedric Diggory. It is not a short journey, in the wizarding sense of what a short journey is, as Bulgaria's wizarding population has been emigrating from the country (along with the muggle population, we are told), leaving less convenient port-key and apparition hot-spots.
As it is the middle of summer, Mr Krum spends most of his days baking on the beaches of Sunny Beach and Sozopol, popping over to Aitos on odd dates. When he mounts his broom from his balcony in Burgas (it is his home town, of course), he almost plunges to his death from the seventh floor of the building. It is clear that laying in the sun all day long has softened his reflexes. Nonetheless, Mr Krum is indeed a renowned Quidditch player, thus death by broom flight is not applicable to him. The trip to Sofia, the country's capital and port-key hot-spot, is half-an-hour – not too bad, considering the noisy city is quite literally on the other side of the country.
Behind Mr Krum trails his wife – Viktorya. Fellow Durmstrang alumna and Quidditch enthusiast, she is his plus-one to the event. Married right after the Second Wizarding War, Viktor and Viktorya's marriage was officiated out of convenience and urgency, shortly after the fall of the British Ministry. Though they grew up together, neither could say that they had ever seen each other as romantic interests before the war. Death Eaters were the reason why they had chosen to marry – out of fear one of them would be kidnapped, the two had proceeded to move-in together (truly, their parents had forced them into marriage, and when everyone is getting killed left and right, you don't refuse your parents). Now, the war is over, and talk of why exactly they married does not happen; they are at an equilibrium they don't dare disturb. Though talk of children still brings about rosy cheeks, their bedroom activities have yet to take a plunge.
Their trip to Sofia is at large uneventful and what some might call frictionless (also known as smooth). As their brooms swish along the National Bulgarian Wizarding Highway '96, Mr and Mrs Krum heatedly discuss the Quidditch game they witnessed the previous night. Naturally, both root for opposite teams, and the argument regarding who has better players is still going strong.
"Viki, you only like him because he has blue eyes; stop gloating!"
"Oh, please, Viki, you only stick up for Ivanova because she has a giant rack."
When they get to a populated area, namely when they arrive in Sofia, the conversation immediately switches to what they will be wearing at the event, and who they will be socialising with. In private, no such conversations would ever be heard between the two, but out in public, one can never be sure who is listening. If you think Rita Skeeter creates scandalous stories out of nothing, you would have a mental breakdown at the types of ridiculous fictions that circulate in the Bulgarian Yellow Press.
Alas, reporters find nothing to spin into a booming headline to-day, and so, Viktor and Viktorya Krum arrive in London unscathed. They spend a day as tourists, eating out and buying souvenirs, and at night, enjoying the expensive hotel they have paid for, and testing the limitations of its bed. The following day is dedicated to traveling to Hogwarts.
Naturally, the organisers of the event have provided a list of different ways wizards might travel to Hogwarts. Due to the fact that neither Viktor nor Viktorya attended the English school in their earlier years, they choose to take the Hogwarts Express. That is, of course, the slowest way to reach the school but it is the most relaxing. The two stare curiously out the window in their compartment, and take-in the beautiful Scottish scenery outside. Viktor Krum has, as you may be aware, visited Hogwarts before. He distinctly remembers soaring towers, moving staircases, and a beautiful library. Hogwarts had brimmed with an undeniably English atmosphere, and was far less frightening than his own Durmstrang, with its feasts, posh wizards, and reluctance to meddle with Dark Magic. Viktor had been quite popular back in that time – girls had offered themselves to him (he had indulged a few times, how could someone deny such a thing?), sent him letters in their own blood, and one had even gone to his mother and begged her to marry them off. Shortly after arriving at Hogwarts, he was already being trailed by a group of girls (and a few boys), and in order for him to focus on the impending Tournament, he had escaped into the library. Not many expected him to linger in there, and he was thankful for it.
The truth is that Viktor Krum, despite his looks and muscles, is an avid reader of classical fiction. When he had stepped through the front gates of the grand Hogwarts, he couldn't help but feel like a heroine in one of his favourite novels. Of course, such emasculating information was only shared with his wife. It was between its vast shelves that he had first met Hermione Granger, the English girl he had fallen for back in his prime. Strikingly beautiful was not what one thought when first gazing upon the bushy hair and large teeth, but it was with her actions and ambition that she won people over. She had been the one to approach him first, surprised at his reading of a popular muggle classic he had found at an old shop in Sofia.
That first day, they had talked for hours about books, about Bulgaria, about England, about different spells, about all sorts of things. Viktor liked her, this girl who knew everything and strived to make it clear to anyone who dared question her. She often spoke of her friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, and just through her words, it was clear to him that she loved them deeply. She had also mentioned boys like Draco Malfoy, petty bullies who only cared about her birth; later, he made sure to steer clear of them and send them glares whenever possible, on her account. He doesn't remember the exact number of their meetings, but it was a constant thing – they didn't plan it, but they met every day that they could. No one knew, no one suspected, and they did not want to ruin it by telling anyone.
When the Yule ball was announced, Viktor didn't even have to think about who he was going to ask. Though he had hesitated a little (only because he was sure Potter or Weasley would have asked her already), Viktor was a firm believer in the "you don't lose anything if you try" motto, and so he did. At first, she had dismissed him – she couldn't believe that someone of his status (as she had unkindly put it) could ask someone of hers. In fact, Hermione had been assured that he had been playing a prank on her all along, for how could bloody Viktor Krum as her to the Yule Ball? You must have an ulterior motive with asking this, she had said, angry and with tears on her eyes. In fact, he did – he wanted to snog her in some dusty corner, and find out how her bushy hair feels in his hand. Maybe even more, but he doubted she would let him. Hermione Granger was a proper girl, and proper girls don't lower to their knees for just anyone. But let a boy dream.
By the time the Durmstrang students left Hogwarts, Viktor Krum had not only snogged Hermione Granger fervidly, but had also slid his hand over her breast and let himself feel its volume underneath her pretty dress. It wasn't anything special, it was a breast after all, but it had given him such a rush that his ears were ringing for hours afterwards. It was clear to him that Hermione was not an experienced kisser, but what did it matter? He had enjoyed his little private time with her (both in the library, and in the dusty corner they had attacked each other's faces), and still fondly thought of it when he had a spare minute.
Back then, both had been painfully shy of talking about what had happened. So quickly afterward, he had packed his things and left. There was no option for him to stay behind, and the awkwardness following the kiss made him want to leave as quickly as possible. It was unclear whether they would ever meet again, but he had wanted to. He had wanted to see her again, if only once – to see whether she had changed at all. He had heard, from various sources, that Hermione had married her friend Ronald Weasley. Viktor had a hard time picturing the pair of them together; they had always been bickering and insulting each other, but he supposed opposites attract.
And now, sitting next to his own wife on the Hogwarts Express, Viktor Krum finally has an answer to a question he has asked himself over and over again – will he see Hermione Granger once more? He remembers her well because she is a chapter he never closed, a hidden nook he never explored, a pleasant disease plaguing him throughout all these years. Before coming, Viktor Krum has done all the research necessary, like the smart man that he is.
Viktor Krum knows Hermione Granger will attend the Cedric Diggory Remembrance Dinner. Viktor Krum knows exactly where and whom she will be sitting with. Viktor Krum's intentions this time around aren't nearly as innocent as a simple snog. He wants to do what he once hesitated to, he wants to see her naked and vulnerable beneath him; Hermione Granger – the girl he couldn't forget.
When the Express comes to its final stop, excitement pumps through Krum's veins. Excitement that the time to close a chapter of his life has, at last, dawned upon him.