For All Eternity
Chapter One: There's Something I Want to Tell You
Viktor POV:
It had been five months. Five months since that wedding day, the day he had waited twenty-six years for, the day he and Hermione had gotten married in front of all his friends, older brother, teammates and her family and many friends. It had been a beautiful ceremony, a wonderful wedding and reception, followed by what he could call the best night of his life. It had been five months, and he was surprised that he and Hermione had managed to survive them, and preserve their marriage at the same time, for there were forces working to try to destroy their marriage: his parents, and Karkaroff.
Viktor tried not to dwell on it, for it was a calm and beautiful morning in the mountain home he called his, and his wife was still asleep, lying in bed next to him. He took this quiet time he had to smell her bushy brown hair. He liked the fresh scent, and he liked even more how his nose usually got stuck in Hermione's excellently thick hair, and she would wake up and manage to get his nose out of her hair, for that meant her hands would have to touch his face, and he would usually steal a kiss from the unsuspecting bride.
She looked particularly pretty today, for the curtains let the sun in at the exact right place for which to illuminate her already beautiful face, which at the moment was asleep. He also saw her nightgown-clad arms curl up under her pillow, and he chuckled to himself, before he realized that his nose was stuck in her hair again.
At that moment he remembered the night before, how Hermione had gone somewhere without him and how he worried all the time she was gone, if his father or even Karkaroff would attack her, he had absolutely no idea why Karkaroff was so mad about his getting married to Hermione. When she returned, she looked happier than she had in days, and he fervently thanked everything there was to thank that she hadn't gotten hurt. Hermione had whispered seductively in his ear, "I have a surprise for you, Victor, but it'll have to wait till morning." He remembered groaning when he heard that, for he had some ideas as to what that little surprise would be.
Hermione POV:
Viktor's nose was stuck in her hair, again. She pushed her face into the pillow to suppress her giggling, and she could hear Viktor yell, "Ow, my nose!" She laughed even harder when she heard Viktor say that, and it reminded her, yet again, of why she married him, like she was reminded several times a day. He had a certain charming klutziness to him, that cute unpredictabiltiy he had, that always kept her on her toes and in love with him.
There had been many problems, including his parents, who didn't like her one bit and intended for him to marry Fleur's sister, Gabrielle. Hermione knew that Gabrielle was just as furious about the arranged marriage as Viktor was, so she and Viktor helped Gabrielle and Neville, the man she had fallen in love with, escape from France and elope. She was excessively proud of that, because she had retained the self-control not to use the Avada Kedavra Curse on the Delecour girl for weeks. There was also the problem that many people thought that twenty-two was too young an age for Hermione to get married.
And yet Viktor's and her love had prevailed all this time, and this morning, the surprise she was about to reveal would seal their victory. She finally stopped laughing and sat up, her hair twisting in exactly the most bizarre way, and as she untangled Viktor's nose from her hair, he grabbed her, kissed her passionately on the lips, and pinned her down on the bed, asking, "Vhat's the big surprise, dear?"
Hermione laughed and replied jokingly, "Well, I'm certainly not telling you when I'm pinned down like this, Viktor, it would ruin the surprise." Viktor let up, and she sat up on the bed and fixed up the twist in her hair. "Viktor, now what I'm about to show you will seal our marriage forever, what I'm about to tell you, it's going to change our lives." Hermione got out the box she had so cleverly hidden for hours, the box she had wanted to show him but known that it was better to show him now. Finally, the secret would be out, finally, she could happy about this instead of afraid. "Viktor, open the box."
Hermione saw Viktor open the box and look confused. "Hermione, vhy is this paper so important to our future, I mean, it's only a paper vith the vords 'Pregnant' and 'Not Pregnant' on it, oh, vait a minute, you're not-"
"Yes Viktor, I'm pregnant! I went to the hospital for a free pregnancy test, and it said that I was pregnant! We're having a baby!"
Viktor POV:
Viktor could not has guessed that this was the surprise, in fact it didn't even come up in his mind, but now that it did, the fact that he was fathering a child, that fact made him the happiest man in the whole world. He was speechless, and elation filled him so much that it threatened to blow out of him, so he did the one thing he felt he could do at the moment.
"Hermione, I love you," he said, and he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her, more passionately than he expected to, and they fell on the bed and just held each other for a long while. Viktor turned and looked at the clock, it was 11:00am, an hour until preactice started, and he really didn't want to leave her alone. He got up, stroking Hermione's face as he did so, and he told her, "I have Quidditch practice today, and I have to get ready."
"Do you really have to go?" Hermione inquired, with that curious look he always loved to see, "because I could always tell your teammates that you got a fever or something."
Truth was, he still felt that fever of heat on his face whenever he looked at her, and he knew that it only came from desire. He still felt that fever even after five months of marriage, and he knew that the desire that caused it sprung from true, fiery love. He was sorely tempted by the offer, but he had already had a week off practice for the honeymoon, and he had to say, "Sorry, dear, but I have to go to practice today."
"At the very least, Viktor, could you tell your teammates that I'm pregnant?" Something in that sentence sent a jolt of an extremely powerful emotion up his spine, and he knew it wasn't happiness; it was fear.
"Hermione, I'm vorried."
"Why? You were so happy just a few minutes ago."
"Hermione, I just got an extremely horrible thought in my head. How vill everyone react, vhat if my parents don't accept the baby as their grandchild, and mostly, because your pregnancy vill make you very vulnerable, vhat if Karkaroff tries to kill you or the baby?
Hermione POV:
Hermione stood in shock. Mainly horrified shock. She had never considered that anyone would do that, she couldn't believe Viktor would even think anyone would do that, did Viktor say that just to scare her, or did he mean it?
"Viktor, who would want to kill a baby!"
She must have looked really scared, because Viktor stammered and said, "I didn't mean that Karkaroff vould vant to kill the baby, I mean that he vould vant to kill you so much, you know vhen the mother dies, the baby does, too..."
Hearing the fear and regret in his voice calmed her down, or rather, set her mind back into rationality. "Viktor, you're rambling, and I know Karkaroff is twisted enough to do it. Fact is, dear, we have to get away from here. We have to hide somewhere where Karkaroff won't find me, or the baby. And he must never know about this baby."
Viktor kicked a nearby chair across the floor. She could see him shaking in fear, he didn't notice it. She stood beside him and rubbed, with one hand, his left shoulder. "Viktor, I know you're scared, who wouldn't be scared when a psycho like Karkaroff wants to kill someone you love? Everything will be okay, dear, it'll all work out."
The words she said comforted her as well as the noticeably calmer and now sitting Viktor, who now had his head on her lap as she stroked his face. "Hermione, I like it vhen you stroke my face like that. It makes me forget all the vorries I have. Sadly, however, I have to get dressed."
He got up and found his Quidditch robes in the closet, right where I put them, Hermione thought. He took off his shirt, and Hermione had to suppress a giggle as she stared at her husband's upper body. It was extremely beautiful, with rippling muscles and she just wanted to-
Hermione slapped her head to prevent her from thinking ways to seduce him away from Quidditch practice, Viktor needed to go to these practices if he was going to bring home the money to support them.
She had previously been a Healer at St. Mungo's, but when they had gotten married, Viktor requested a very extended vacation for Hermione, so she could hide from Karkaroff. It annoyed her extensively, because she also wanted to help when it came to money, but Viktor had made her feel better by not letting the Healer at the practices heal him up, instead opting for Hermione as his own Healer, and she smiled at the fact that there was more than one way to heal Viktor.
She smiled and said, "I have an idea when it comes to this situation. I have an old friend, who taught me in my third year, that we could go to for a place to hide until the baby is born. He has a wife, and three kids, so it will be very accommodating, and it'll have that nice family feeling, so we could get used to it."
"Who is this friend, Hermione?"
"His name is Remus Lupin, and he's really nice, albeit a werewolf-"
"A verevolf? Around our baby? Vhat if he eats our baby?"
"Viktor! He's not like that, he's just as cautious and rational as you and me, sometimes even more so! Please, trust me on this."
"I just don't vant this baby to get hurt in any vay. I mean it's my first-"
"Shush, dear, all will be well in time. Viktor, it may not show at this moment, but I'm every bit as protective of our baby as you are, if not even more than you. I know what I'm doing, I've already set everything up with Lupin and his family. I'll be resuming my job as Healer at St. Mungo's to pay the rent, and you could Apparate to your Quidditch practices and to here to create the illusion that we're still here. I love you, Viktor, always remember that," Hermione said, her words calming both of them down.
Viktor POV:
Calm enveloped him, and now he was reminded yet again on why he married her, and he realized how attractive she was when she was thinking and how happy he was that he married her and not some airheaded scarlet woman. For the first time in the long minutes that had passed after 11:00, he was totally and utterly happy that Hermione was having his baby, not anyone else's, but his baby.
"So, vhen do ve go to Mr. Lupin's house?"
"I was thinking after your Quidditch practice, so we could get used to the place."
"It's a date, and yes, I vill tell my teammates the good news," Viktor stated, and he eagerly opened the door and left for Quidditch practice, and barely suppressing the thought that he couldn't wait to get back.
Hermione POV:
Viktor was at practice, so she decided to pack bags for the both of them. It was fun, picking out outfits that she thought looked best, and sexiest, on him, but she packed very little for herself, for she knew that with the baby on the way, she would need to buy new clothes to accommodate her growing belly.
After packing, she put on a pretty pink polo shirt and slipped on the tight pants she knew, she would be wearing for the last time in a long time. She slipped on some comfortable slippers, and tried the best she could to tame her unruly hair, but ended up just keeping it down. By the time she finished, it was time for Viktor's Quidditch practice to end, and Viktor came stumbling through the door, as usual, with the usual small bruises that she healed very easily.
"Let's go," she said, her hand on her hip.
"Let me shower, at the very least."
"Fine," she mumbled, with the full knowledge that she would 'accidentally' peek in on him at the shower. A few minutes, a peek and a passionate kiss later, they were on their way. It really only took them a few minutes to get there, since Hermione knew where they were going, and they arrived at the house, holding hands, and their luggage.
Hermione rang the doorbell, and she waited for it to answer. After a few minutes, she yelled, "Remus, Nymphadora, are you there, it's me, Hermione! Viktor's here, too!" A few seconds later, she heard a person running down the stairs, and the door opened.
Viktor POV:
It had been five months. Five months since that wedding day, the day he had waited twenty-six years for, the day he and Hermione had gotten married in front of all his friends, older brother, teammates and her family and many friends. It had been a beautiful ceremony, a wonderful wedding and reception, followed by what he could call the best night of his life. It had been five months, and he was surprised that he and Hermione had managed to survive them, and preserve their marriage at the same time, for there were forces working to try to destroy their marriage: his parents, and Karkaroff.
Viktor tried not to dwell on it, for it was a calm and beautiful morning in the mountain home he called his, and his wife was still asleep, lying in bed next to him. He took this quiet time he had to smell her bushy brown hair. He liked the fresh scent, and he liked even more how his nose usually got stuck in Hermione's excellently thick hair, and she would wake up and manage to get his nose out of her hair, for that meant her hands would have to touch his face, and he would usually steal a kiss from the unsuspecting bride.
She looked particularly pretty today, for the curtains let the sun in at the exact right place for which to illuminate her already beautiful face, which at the moment was asleep. He also saw her nightgown-clad arms curl up under her pillow, and he chuckled to himself, before he realized that his nose was stuck in her hair again.
At that moment he remembered the night before, how Hermione had gone somewhere without him and how he worried all the time she was gone, if his father or even Karkaroff would attack her, he had absolutely no idea why Karkaroff was so mad about his getting married to Hermione. When she returned, she looked happier than she had in days, and he fervently thanked everything there was to thank that she hadn't gotten hurt. Hermione had whispered seductively in his ear, "I have a surprise for you, Victor, but it'll have to wait till morning." He remembered groaning when he heard that, for he had some ideas as to what that little surprise would be.
Hermione POV:
Viktor's nose was stuck in her hair, again. She pushed her face into the pillow to suppress her giggling, and she could hear Viktor yell, "Ow, my nose!" She laughed even harder when she heard Viktor say that, and it reminded her, yet again, of why she married him, like she was reminded several times a day. He had a certain charming klutziness to him, that cute unpredictabiltiy he had, that always kept her on her toes and in love with him.
There had been many problems, including his parents, who didn't like her one bit and intended for him to marry Fleur's sister, Gabrielle. Hermione knew that Gabrielle was just as furious about the arranged marriage as Viktor was, so she and Viktor helped Gabrielle and Neville, the man she had fallen in love with, escape from France and elope. She was excessively proud of that, because she had retained the self-control not to use the Avada Kedavra Curse on the Delecour girl for weeks. There was also the problem that many people thought that twenty-two was too young an age for Hermione to get married.
And yet Viktor's and her love had prevailed all this time, and this morning, the surprise she was about to reveal would seal their victory. She finally stopped laughing and sat up, her hair twisting in exactly the most bizarre way, and as she untangled Viktor's nose from her hair, he grabbed her, kissed her passionately on the lips, and pinned her down on the bed, asking, "Vhat's the big surprise, dear?"
Hermione laughed and replied jokingly, "Well, I'm certainly not telling you when I'm pinned down like this, Viktor, it would ruin the surprise." Viktor let up, and she sat up on the bed and fixed up the twist in her hair. "Viktor, now what I'm about to show you will seal our marriage forever, what I'm about to tell you, it's going to change our lives." Hermione got out the box she had so cleverly hidden for hours, the box she had wanted to show him but known that it was better to show him now. Finally, the secret would be out, finally, she could happy about this instead of afraid. "Viktor, open the box."
Hermione saw Viktor open the box and look confused. "Hermione, vhy is this paper so important to our future, I mean, it's only a paper vith the vords 'Pregnant' and 'Not Pregnant' on it, oh, vait a minute, you're not-"
"Yes Viktor, I'm pregnant! I went to the hospital for a free pregnancy test, and it said that I was pregnant! We're having a baby!"
Viktor POV:
Viktor could not has guessed that this was the surprise, in fact it didn't even come up in his mind, but now that it did, the fact that he was fathering a child, that fact made him the happiest man in the whole world. He was speechless, and elation filled him so much that it threatened to blow out of him, so he did the one thing he felt he could do at the moment.
"Hermione, I love you," he said, and he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her, more passionately than he expected to, and they fell on the bed and just held each other for a long while. Viktor turned and looked at the clock, it was 11:00am, an hour until preactice started, and he really didn't want to leave her alone. He got up, stroking Hermione's face as he did so, and he told her, "I have Quidditch practice today, and I have to get ready."
"Do you really have to go?" Hermione inquired, with that curious look he always loved to see, "because I could always tell your teammates that you got a fever or something."
Truth was, he still felt that fever of heat on his face whenever he looked at her, and he knew that it only came from desire. He still felt that fever even after five months of marriage, and he knew that the desire that caused it sprung from true, fiery love. He was sorely tempted by the offer, but he had already had a week off practice for the honeymoon, and he had to say, "Sorry, dear, but I have to go to practice today."
"At the very least, Viktor, could you tell your teammates that I'm pregnant?" Something in that sentence sent a jolt of an extremely powerful emotion up his spine, and he knew it wasn't happiness; it was fear.
"Hermione, I'm vorried."
"Why? You were so happy just a few minutes ago."
"Hermione, I just got an extremely horrible thought in my head. How vill everyone react, vhat if my parents don't accept the baby as their grandchild, and mostly, because your pregnancy vill make you very vulnerable, vhat if Karkaroff tries to kill you or the baby?
Hermione POV:
Hermione stood in shock. Mainly horrified shock. She had never considered that anyone would do that, she couldn't believe Viktor would even think anyone would do that, did Viktor say that just to scare her, or did he mean it?
"Viktor, who would want to kill a baby!"
She must have looked really scared, because Viktor stammered and said, "I didn't mean that Karkaroff vould vant to kill the baby, I mean that he vould vant to kill you so much, you know vhen the mother dies, the baby does, too..."
Hearing the fear and regret in his voice calmed her down, or rather, set her mind back into rationality. "Viktor, you're rambling, and I know Karkaroff is twisted enough to do it. Fact is, dear, we have to get away from here. We have to hide somewhere where Karkaroff won't find me, or the baby. And he must never know about this baby."
Viktor kicked a nearby chair across the floor. She could see him shaking in fear, he didn't notice it. She stood beside him and rubbed, with one hand, his left shoulder. "Viktor, I know you're scared, who wouldn't be scared when a psycho like Karkaroff wants to kill someone you love? Everything will be okay, dear, it'll all work out."
The words she said comforted her as well as the noticeably calmer and now sitting Viktor, who now had his head on her lap as she stroked his face. "Hermione, I like it vhen you stroke my face like that. It makes me forget all the vorries I have. Sadly, however, I have to get dressed."
He got up and found his Quidditch robes in the closet, right where I put them, Hermione thought. He took off his shirt, and Hermione had to suppress a giggle as she stared at her husband's upper body. It was extremely beautiful, with rippling muscles and she just wanted to-
Hermione slapped her head to prevent her from thinking ways to seduce him away from Quidditch practice, Viktor needed to go to these practices if he was going to bring home the money to support them.
She had previously been a Healer at St. Mungo's, but when they had gotten married, Viktor requested a very extended vacation for Hermione, so she could hide from Karkaroff. It annoyed her extensively, because she also wanted to help when it came to money, but Viktor had made her feel better by not letting the Healer at the practices heal him up, instead opting for Hermione as his own Healer, and she smiled at the fact that there was more than one way to heal Viktor.
She smiled and said, "I have an idea when it comes to this situation. I have an old friend, who taught me in my third year, that we could go to for a place to hide until the baby is born. He has a wife, and three kids, so it will be very accommodating, and it'll have that nice family feeling, so we could get used to it."
"Who is this friend, Hermione?"
"His name is Remus Lupin, and he's really nice, albeit a werewolf-"
"A verevolf? Around our baby? Vhat if he eats our baby?"
"Viktor! He's not like that, he's just as cautious and rational as you and me, sometimes even more so! Please, trust me on this."
"I just don't vant this baby to get hurt in any vay. I mean it's my first-"
"Shush, dear, all will be well in time. Viktor, it may not show at this moment, but I'm every bit as protective of our baby as you are, if not even more than you. I know what I'm doing, I've already set everything up with Lupin and his family. I'll be resuming my job as Healer at St. Mungo's to pay the rent, and you could Apparate to your Quidditch practices and to here to create the illusion that we're still here. I love you, Viktor, always remember that," Hermione said, her words calming both of them down.
Viktor POV:
Calm enveloped him, and now he was reminded yet again on why he married her, and he realized how attractive she was when she was thinking and how happy he was that he married her and not some airheaded scarlet woman. For the first time in the long minutes that had passed after 11:00, he was totally and utterly happy that Hermione was having his baby, not anyone else's, but his baby.
"So, vhen do ve go to Mr. Lupin's house?"
"I was thinking after your Quidditch practice, so we could get used to the place."
"It's a date, and yes, I vill tell my teammates the good news," Viktor stated, and he eagerly opened the door and left for Quidditch practice, and barely suppressing the thought that he couldn't wait to get back.
Hermione POV:
Viktor was at practice, so she decided to pack bags for the both of them. It was fun, picking out outfits that she thought looked best, and sexiest, on him, but she packed very little for herself, for she knew that with the baby on the way, she would need to buy new clothes to accommodate her growing belly.
After packing, she put on a pretty pink polo shirt and slipped on the tight pants she knew, she would be wearing for the last time in a long time. She slipped on some comfortable slippers, and tried the best she could to tame her unruly hair, but ended up just keeping it down. By the time she finished, it was time for Viktor's Quidditch practice to end, and Viktor came stumbling through the door, as usual, with the usual small bruises that she healed very easily.
"Let's go," she said, her hand on her hip.
"Let me shower, at the very least."
"Fine," she mumbled, with the full knowledge that she would 'accidentally' peek in on him at the shower. A few minutes, a peek and a passionate kiss later, they were on their way. It really only took them a few minutes to get there, since Hermione knew where they were going, and they arrived at the house, holding hands, and their luggage.
Hermione rang the doorbell, and she waited for it to answer. After a few minutes, she yelled, "Remus, Nymphadora, are you there, it's me, Hermione! Viktor's here, too!" A few seconds later, she heard a person running down the stairs, and the door opened.