A/N: This was written during the Monthly One-Shot Exchange (July 2018) from the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges Forum, yay!
This story is for public static void :3
Pairing: Ginny Weasley/Viktor Krum
Character: Lavender Brown
Genre: Adventure/Gen
Prompt: awe (word)
Ginny stood on the tip of her toes and peeked over the railing of the stairs leading towards the magnificent wooden doors of the Great Hall. Down below there were several tall boys from Durmstrang, including the famous Viktor Krum. Now he was not only a Quidditch legend but a Tri-Wizard-Champion. Next to her, Lavender Brown tried to catch a glimpse of said boys as well.
'Let me have a look now, Ginny! He's too old for you anyways!'
The older Gryffindor craned her neck and sighed. 'Isn't he the most handsome man ever?'
Ginny shrugged. She didn't think he was THAT handsome, considering his beak-like nose and the bushy eyebrows. She'd prefer someone less intimidating, maybe with glasses and a scar… But nevertheless Krumm fascinated her. After she had seen him play on the World Cup, she had thought about talking to him quite often. Asking him what the secret behind mastering the Wronski feint was and whether he had ever played as a chaser, like she did.
'You think he'd give me an autograph if I asked him?' Lavender disrupted her thoughts.
'Go ahead and try. He won't bite your head off!' Ginny laughed and followed Lavender, who hurried down the stairs. Krum was laughing at a joke one of his mates had told and Ginny was surprised that he was capable of a facial expression like that. Lavender shifted nervously from one foot to the other and it was not until Ginny cleared her throat audibly that the Tri-Wizard champion noticed them. The Weasley nudged Lavender towards him and took a step back. The older Gryffindor seemed to have lost her speech for some moments but then managed to stutter hi-Viktor-can-you-sign-my-herbology-textbook.
Ginny sniggered. It must have been the only thing Lavender had with her that moment – the herbology textbook. Viktor Krum raised one of his bushy eyebrows but did as asked anyway. Then his eyes fell on Ginny and he extended his hand, quill still ready for giving another autograph. But Ginny shook her head.
'Oh, no I don't have anything to get signed. I'm just waiting for Lavender. But by the way, your Wronski feint is just fantastic. How to you cope with all that kinetic energy and aerodynamic drag? It must have taken you a lot of practice!'
Krum seemed to be surprised.
'You don't want a signature?'
'No … well, not right now, maybe later.' She thought of Ron, who would kill for something signed by Krum.
'But you do know a lot about Quiddich.' The famous player looked at her earnestly. 'How come?'
'Oh, I play for my house's team. As a Chaser.'
'Are you good?'
'Fairly.'
'You seem to know a lot about tactics and moves.' He studied her face attentively. 'Are you planning on a Quiddich career when you have finished school?'
She nodded. 'But I still have to learn so much. I have yet to master the Dionysus Dive.'
'Ay, Viktor!' A loud voice disrupted their conversation. 'Have you found yourself a little Hogwarts girlfriend? I've never heard you saying this incredible amount of words in such a short time!'
One of his school mates had just entered the Entrance Hall and examined Ginny from head to toe.
'Be careful, she belongs to that Potter bloke!'
Ginny rolled her eyes, not knowing whether it was because someone assumed she would be interested in Krum or because she was seen as nothing more than one of Harry's fans.
'We just talked about some Quiddich. Nothing you could understand, so shut up!' Viktor snarled. 'And after all, this tournament is about strengthening international relations, isn't it?'
The other guy laughed. 'You're one to talk. I'm pretty sure for you it's always about winning, Mister I-caught-the-snitch-in-the-World-Cup-final!'
'I'll better be going back to my dorm.' Ginny interrupted the quarrelling. 'See you.'
She grabbed Lavender's elbow and dragged her away from the Durmstrang boys and towards their dormitory. When they arrived at the Fat Lady, Lavender finally seemed to get back to reality.
'How can you talk to him like he's just a normal boy?' she asked Ginny in awe.
'I don't know. Maybe because he IS a normal boy?'
'You can't seriously think that! He's played in the World Cup Final! There's merchandise showing his face! He's a Triwizard Champion!' Lavender stared at her wide-eyed. 'And you just talked to him without a second thought.'
'Well, I do talk to Harry, do I? He's youngest Seeker in like forever and he's also a Triwizard Champion!' She winked at Lavender. 'But don't worry, you're not the only girl freezing to the spot when Krum's around.'
And with that she turned around to the Fat Lady and called 'Chocolate Fondue'. The door to the Gryffindor common room opened and the two girls stepped inside. Lavender instantly rushed over to Parvati and showed off her newly signed Herbology book while Ginny padded over to the fire place where her Hermione and Harry were sitting.
But before she reached her friends she was startled by a cry from Hermione.
'Dragons!?' The brunette stared at Harry disbelieving. She lowered her voice and asked: 'But how do you know?'
Harry's whispered answer would have been barely audible, if Ginny hadn't leaned closer.
'They are kept in huge cages right next to the forbidden forest. Hagrid showed me earlier. They're terrifying, Hermione! How am I supposed to survive this first task? You know what Norbert was like!'
Ginny had no idea who Norbert was, but she didn't mid right now. All she could think of was how the other champions didn't know about this at all and they were all going to die probably. She didn't care about that French girl much, but Cedric and Krum…
Lost in thought, she nearly missed the next thing Harry said.
'I'm going to tell Cedric right now! There's no way I'll let him walk in there not knowing!'
He jumped up and rushed past Ginny, out of the portrait hole.
Now Ginny moved as well. If Harry was going to tell Cedric, then she had to tell Krum!
*******
It was easy to find him. He was still hanging around in the entrance hall, obviously flirting with some seventh-year Ravenclaws. Ginny almost knocked him oven when she came flying down the stairs.
'Krum! Krum! I have to talk to you, now!'
His male companions sniggered and raised their eyebrows on her.
'Why, Viktor! You really must have put that ginger witch under your spell if she's so eager to talk to you again!'
Ginny rolled her eyes and tugged at Krums sleeve.
'It's important, please listen to me!'
Krum seemed to sense her tenseness and nodded.
She dragged him over to the front door so that they were out of earshot.
'Listen!' she whispered, slightly out of breath. 'I know what the first task of the tournament is! Dragons!'
Viktor seemed to think she'd gone mental. He stared at her first disbelieving and then even disapproving.
'You can't be serious. That's ridiculous! They won't risk the lives of students in this game. You are trying to scare me and distract me, so that your boyfriend can win!'
'No!' Ginny winced. 'Please, you have to believe me! You said it yourself, this is about strengthening international relations, not about who's going to win. I can't let you walk in there unprepared. And Harry's not my boyfriend!'
The last words came out louder than intended and caused the other Durmstrang boys to turn their attention back to them. Ginny grabbed Viktor's wrist and opened the front door, pulling him outside.
'If you do not believe my word, I'm going to show you!'
She dragged him over to the shadows of the forbidden forest. She had to admit that this was maybe not the best way to earning someone's trust – dragging them along in the direction of a terrifying magical forest that was home to a lot of pretty dangerous things late in the evening. But at this point she could not just let him go.
He followed her silently, not once complaining about her bossy attitude towards him or the fact that she had gripped his wrist rather tight. They made it to the outskirts of the forest in less than five minutes and Ginny had no idea in which direction they had to go on from this point. They stopped under a huge oak and Viktor raised his eyebrows.
'Now, what are we doing here? I don't see any Dragons. So what's your intention with bringing me here? Have me snog you senseless where no-one can see us?' He laughed dryly. 'That's not going to happen, young girl!'
Ginny was just about to snap back at him, when they heard some noise coming from the right. It sounded a lot like something big with a long tail and sharp claws. When they turned their heads in the direction of the sound, they saw how the trees to their right were lit up from a huge stream of fiery breath.
Dragons.
Ginny couldn't decide whether she wanted to be scared or satisfied and settled for a hysterical fit of the giggles. While she tried to recover, Viktor already made his way closer to the scene ahead.
There were four huge cages, three of them covered in thick layers of dark and probably (hopefully) fire-proof fabric, but the fourth was uncovered and allowed them to look at the enormous beast inside. Six wizards were busy calming the creature down and feeding it with living chickens.
Ginny had to avert her face, but Viktor stood there, awestruck and barely hid by the trees. He was nearly about to step out in plain sight, not thinking about the consequences about a pupil and triwizard champion being found right next to the subject of the first task.
So Ginny swallowed down her fear and leapt forward, pulling him back between the trees, just in time to save him from being caught by a wizard who just now looked in their direction. They kept their heads low and waited for what felt like an eternity. Finally, the man turned his back on them again and walked away.
The Gryffindor girl slumped back against a tree. 'That was close!'
Krum seemed to have recovered from his stupor and nodded. 'Thanks for showing me. I owe you. If there's something I can do for you..?'
Ginny laughed and grinned at him. 'There's really something you could do for me. Stop calling Harry my boyfriend!'