Muggle-Like
A HariPo oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. This pairing was discovered by my twin, Morghen, so please give her a little mention if you write them! Thanks! It is one of many of Mew and Mor's Weird Pairings, most of which you may find in the M&MWP forum (link on my profile). Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy! :D Note: This makes more sense if you've read "Some Die Young," but I guess it's not totally necessary to read that first (especially 'cuz it's long). Also, this is for autumn midnights—happy belated birthday, lil' sis! -w-
- ^-^3
Hugo looked around the flat and whistled appreciatively. "Wow… This place is great. But…isn't it, I dunno, a bit much?"
Viktor hummed and stroked his scruffy chin. "Is that so? Maybe I was not thinkingk very good about this…"
The redhead turned to the older male and stifled a laugh. Really, Viktor's awkward wording was amusing enough as it already stood. But now hearing doubt in his voice? Hugo grinned stupidly. He loved this man too much, far too much.
Of course, when he thought of the L-word, he looked away and walked through the place, not letting Viktor catch sight of his flushed cheeks. He still didn't want to believe, not really, that he loved Viktor Krum. It wasn't as if he'd never ever known the man; he'd met him once or twice as a kid, which was expected since Viktor was a close friend of his parents. But he and Viktor had met for real, Hugo liked to think, early last fall. Granted, it had been hard being even friendly at first with the dark visitor and Viktor could be uncomfortably blunt at times, but Hugo had fallen for Viktor's foreign charms and almost homely quirks. It was a kind of nice thing, something that had helped Hugo close an old chapter of his life, that of a dying love for his cousin, Louis… Even now, Hugo didn't really like to think of that. He was doing much better as Louis' friend these days, anyway.
Besides, there was no comparison between Viktor and Louis. Honestly, Hugo thought, he could think of no one to compare to Viktor. It wasn't even just that Viktor had been a professional Quidditch player (though Hugo could care less about that), or that Viktor was a rare foreign sight out of all the family and family friends he knew (the most foreign they got, Hugo mused, was Aunt Fleur's side of the family, and maybe Uncle Seamus). Viktor was just…so Viktor. He was like a puppy—a very large puppy that had never properly learned to follow commands and liked to nip constantly at Hugo's heels to come and play.
Hugo's thoughts turned dour. "Shyeah, play," he mumbled to himself as he glimpsed the various rooms in the size-extra-large apartment. It was mid-February and Viktor had finally settled in and decided it was time to let Hugo visit. But since January, they'd barely had time alone, so anything resembling affection between the two had been reduced to simple communication in poorly-written letters. Hugo pinched his arm; he had to behave. It wasn't as though he could spend half the time here without raising anyone's suspicions, though Louis knew about them since he'd made an educated guess about Hugo and the Bulgarian. Hugo returned to the living room, bumping into his older lover. "It's a really nice place, though," he said.
Viktor smiled. "I am glad you agree." He rubbed the back of his head, and Hugo noted he'd gotten his already short hair trimmed even shorter.
Hugo wanted to rub Viktor's hair. He loved its texture.
"May I get you, ah, food? I have some thingks."
With that, Hugo quelled his hormones and followed Viktor into the kitchen. Viktor pulled out some munchies, and they snacked while they spoke. "So have you told Mum yet where you are?"
A dusting of pink coated Viktor's cheeks. His eyes dropped to the kitchen counter. "No… I wanted you to know the first."
"That's sweet of you."
Viktor picked up his gaze once more. "I am glad you think so."
Hugo finally felt the relation to his sister—it was very hard not to snog the man he loved every time he said something adorable. The younger wizard gestured. "You've furnished the place well, too, even for guests. Do you plan on having my lot over often?"
Viktor shrugged. "I had the thoughts that perhaps at least you might be here often."
Hugo almost slid out of his chair. "I, um—thank you very much."
Viktor said nothing. He probably didn't think it was a statement in need of thanks.
The Weasley checked his watch and almost spat out his sip of gillywater. "Oh, cripes! I'm going to be late meeting Slughorn." He hopped up and stuffed a few snacks in his cloak pockets. He paused, pecked Viktor's cheek, and waved. "See you later, luv!" And then he was out of there.
- ^-^3
One thing Hugo loved about working as a potion theorist was the hours.
Truth be told, it was lovely working as Slughorn's somewhat-apprentice. Hugo didn't like making the potions he thought up himself, but he was more than happy to advise Slughorn as he tried out Hugo's new concoctions. The Weasley had done a lot of research so far in his nearly four years out of school, and so far he'd invented two new potions. And that had been on his own terms.
But though meeting with his old Potions professor and mentor could be a little nutty as they tried to work around Slughorn's teaching at Hogwarts, Hugo did love his job. Most of the time it kept him at home, holed up in his room with various books. It was a job of which his mother was sometimes envious, even. But, most of all, it suited Hugo's passive personality.
However, Hugo had begun to wonder just how passive he was. He never forced anything out of Viktor, but these days he was tempted. And with very flexible work hours, it meant he could work out time to spend at Viktor's place. And at least he could enjoy his company.
"I just sent off my latest comuntarees," he told Hugo as he came to join him in the living room.
"That's great." Hugo put his book and reading glasses aside as the couch sank beside him under Viktor's weight. Even though it had been a long time since he'd last played Quidditch competitively, Viktor had stayed very much in shape. "I'm glad the Prophet still wants your guest-column in the sports section."
"Me, as well," Viktor replied, leaving an arm comfortably behind Hugo on the couch. "I, ah, hast somethingk to tell to you, though."
The research's heart beat harder in his chest. "Oh?"
His lover blushed. "The Prophet… They want me to, ah, you say…stay on?"
Hugo's heart sank, but he forgot his disappointment the very next second as he playfully shoved Viktor's arm. "That's—way to go, Vik! That's brilliant!"
"Yes?" Viktor sighed happily. "I had a worry about what to do besides the writingk for your Prophet. But it will allow me to stay, ah, comfy."
His words were translated to Hugo thusly: It will allow me to stay around. Of course, Hugo put the period merely after "stay." It had become quite evident when Hermione had invited her old friend to stay with them and observe Louis and the Cannons and Viktor had stayed for months that Viktor wasn't going anywhere. And that had been before he'd started this romance with Hugo. That made Hugo doubly happy, because he believed it was important for them not to be solely responsible for each other's happiness; that would be too much to bear.
"We should celebrate, yes?" Viktor asked, taking Hugo from his thoughts.
Hugo blinked. "Sure. What were you thinking?"
"I can try to cook."
"Sounds good—wait, try to cook?"
But Viktor had already gotten up and headed into his kitchen.
Now, Hugo recalled his mother's comments about the kitchen, as she, Ron, and Rose had visited last week, a week after Viktor had shown Hugo around. "It's fairly high-end," Hermione had said. "Are you sure this is right for you, Viktor? It's a lot to manage." At the time, Hugo had thought he'd heard a tinge of jealousy in his mother's tone.
…okay, so he probably had, as Hermione was jealous of those with the time and proper space to cook as much as they wanted (Ron did most of the cooking at their house). But now Hugo got to learn something maybe Hermione had only been told in her letters with Viktor over the years.
A high-end kitchen does not a chef make.
Viktor still had the instructions around for his appliances, but they were useless as Viktor knew even less about Muggle wares than Hugo did. Unfortunately, Viktor also knew very few household spells, and Hugo could almost picture Grandmam Weasley's appalled countenance as he watched Viktor accidentally hit all the wrong buttons on his stovetop. Hugo joined him in casting a spell to put out the fire before the smoke detector could go off.
"Um…maybe not such a good idea," Hugo remarked.
Viktor looked so defeated, though. "Then…do you…?"
Hugo deflated even more. "I'm rubbish at it. My parents can cook. All Rose and I know how to do is eat."
The older man chuckled, and their worries seemed less. "That, I know how to do, as well." He grabbed their cloaks and helped Hugo into his. "We shall go to out, then. Let someone else have a fire."
Hugo tried not to laugh or be too excited at having Viktor so close by after all this time. "That's not the best way to put it, Viktor…"
- ^-^3
So they were the couple who always had to go out to eat. Hugo was fine with that. He could handle that. In fact, it became the norm for him if he stayed too late at Viktor's.
…however, he needed to be better about how late he stayed at Viktor's.
It was only mid-March when he began to get funny looks from Rose, but she didn't say anything to him about where he was going. Hugo had the feeling that she thought it was Louis he was spending more time with, now that they were speaking again. Hugo didn't have the heart or desire to correct his sister. Yes, he was friends with Louis again, but he only saw his cousin before or after the Cannons' matches these days. He didn't like making Viktor jealous in the least.
But, really, he needed to do better about his timing.
The thing was, dinner was one thing. But when Hugo stayed late, he tended to forget things at Viktor's place. As was evident when he woke up one morning in a rush to make a meeting with Slughorn and couldn't find his reading glasses.
"Has anyone seen my glasses?" he hollered into the whole house.
His father yelled something very unpleasant about it being too early in the morning for shouting.
His mother apologized. "Sorry, Hugo, no, and I have to get to work." And she'd promptly left.
Rose was downstairs eating breakfast with Scorpius, who'd invited himself over at this ungodly hour simply because he could. "Where'd you last have them?" she asked her brother.
Hugo opened his mouth. But he stopped. He'd been about to blurt out that he'd definitely had them at Viktor's last night, because he'd nodded off while reading before Viktor had woken him so they could go eat. But he certainly couldn't tell her that! "Um…"
"Just check your room again," Scorpius said. "It's always in the last place you look, anyway."
Rose sighed at her fiancé, who just shrugged. "Or just use the Summoning Spell. Honestly, Hugo, I know yours are only for reading, but you, Uncle Harry, James, Molly, Uncle Percy—the lot of you using glasses… You'd think we'd use magic to fix eyesight just as we use magic to find things."
"Well, I like the Muggle way of things sometimes," Hugo stated defiantly. He discounted his sister and grabbed his things to leave for Slughorn's office. He'd have to do without as he was already running late.
Luck was on his side, though, as the meeting was brief and Slughorn simply wanted to show Hugo a few improvements he'd made to some of Hugo's recipes. Then the recipes would be sent off for review by other potion masters to verify. If everything fell into place, Hugo could have another new potion to his name.
"That is the wonderful," Viktor told him when he went over to Viktor's afterwards. He brought Hugo into a big bear hug, one large enough for the smaller male to drown in.
Hugo enjoyed it, though, and blood rushed to his head. Maybe tonight, maybe with how well they were doing respectively, he and Viktor could be a little closer than they had been recently…
"Oh, and, Hugo—" Viktor pulled the redhead's glasses from his sweater breast pocket. "You forgot to hast these with you."
The Weasley laughed and let his desires subside for another night. "I figured as much…! Oh, hey. Idea!" He unfolded them and placed them on Viktor.
Viktor tried to look serious. "I look like a, ah, brainy person, yes? Like…Herrminey?"
Hugo snorted and laughed harder. "Oh, come on, Mum's not that bad… But yes, you look handsome and bookish all at once."
Viktor removed them and put them on Hugo, smiling gently. "I have thought, though. Why do you need them? Do you have a problemm with your eyes?"
"Just a bit," Hugo said. "Though it's actually kind of funny that you mention it, because Rose was griping this morning about me and others wearing them, how it's odd that magic hasn't fixed something like that yet." He paused and exchanged a look with his love. "Is it that Muggle of me?"
Viktor shrugged. "I do not know. Do not the Muggles have the ways to fix it themselves, almost like the magic?"
"Good question…"
- ^-^3
"Where were you last night?"
Hermione's threatening tone came as a surprise to Hugo one morning at the end of March. But there she was, in the kitchen, hands on hips, glaring right at her son.
"I know you have a voice, Hugo. Use it."
He swallowed hard. The first word to come to the tip of his tongue was "home," but he bit that back. Obviously "home" still meant here to his parents and Rose.
He blinked.
Was this still "home" to him?
"I'm waiting," Hermione said, tapping her foot.
"Look, I'm sorry," he apologized.
Hermione pursed her lips together, but she sighed. "Don't let it happen again, Hugo. You're still living under this roof. That means I still get to be worried about you and that your father and I still expect to see you come home, even if you don't eat with us."
Now he truly felt awful. "…yeah."
She sighed again and pecked his cheek. "Oh, Hugo… I'm sorry for flipping out. It's just, you're my baby and with Rose getting married at the end of the summer, she'll be leaving and it'll just be the three of us…"
He forced a laugh. "Mum, you don't think I'll be here forever, do you?"
The genius witch pouted. "Well, can you blame me for wishing for that?" Then she narrowed her eyes. "Unless…don't tell me you are moving out…?"
He blushed furiously and waved his hands, dismissing that train of thought. "Heavens, no! Where would I even go?"
"All right, all right…"
And yet his mother's words got him thinking. He spent the day working from his room at his parents' house (ah, already he really was stopping to think of it as "home"), and when it was dinnertime he ate with his parents. Rose wouldn't join them as she and Scorpius were expected to dine with Astoria.
Yet when it was time for bed, Hugo couldn't sleep. He just lay there, staring at his dark ceiling. His mind wouldn't turn off.
Finally he got up. He listened and could tell that everyone else was asleep, so he decided it was an okay time to slip out.
When he arrived at Viktor's, he hesitated before knocking. Maybe this had been a stupid idea. It was late. If Hugo's parents were asleep already, then Viktor probably was, too.
And, yet, Viktor opened the door without Hugo even having to knock. "I had a sense of someone standingk outside, but I am surprised," he said, looking at Hugo.
Hugo stared back. "Uh, yeah, yeah… I'm a tad surprised myself."
Viktor's brow knit together. "Is everythingk all right?"
Hugo nodded. "Oh, yes, fine! I just… I've been thinking…"
"Come in, then." Viktor took his jacket from him and closed the door.
Hugo had a creeping feeling, of something that he'd not allowed himself to think but probably had been feeling deep down inside either way. To confirm it, he looked around Viktor's place. Ah, there was his favorite blazer, hanging from Viktor's coat stand. And…if he checked…yes, the lemon-flavoured Drooble's Best gum for which he had a guilty pleasure was in the silverware drawer. And the hand soap in the loo—was it Viktor's favourite or his? He couldn't even recall, but he knew he liked it a lot. It had a strong, clean, fresh scent.
"Hugo…" Viktor's voice was gentle and sad. He wasn't convinced that everything was fine.
The researcher faced the athlete. "I feel a little ridiculous," he began.
Viktor brightened up and held up a hand to pause Hugo. He left and retrieved something from the living room. He put the glasses on Hugo and smiled like a puppy who'd finally learned a trick properly. "You left them behind another time."
Hugo's heart swelled. "Okay, so we're both a little ridiculous."
The older man cocked his head to one side.
"The Muggle things we do, the magical things we do—they're all the same…"
Viktor looked especially confused now.
"Sorry, luv. What I mean to say is that you were right." He kissed Viktor's lips softly. "You wished it, and it turns out that I'm here more often than not." He told him about what Hermione had said, and what his new thoughts were.
Viktor was pleasantly pink. He held his hand in his hand. "I knew this would be a problemm… It is why I tried to find a place for me not in your house…"
Hugo chuckled. "Viktor, there's no problem. It's a good thing. It means—" Oh, Merlin, was he really going to say it? "I have a home with you, Viktor."
To his surprise, Viktor frowned. "Then…"
"What's wrong?"
"…I have not done enough."
Hugo panicked. "Why? What do you meant? Viktor, you've been great. You are great."
Then something amazing happened—Viktor's eyes smoldered. "No, I have not done enough. If this is what you call home, then how come you do not stay?"
His ears had to be playing tricks on him. "What?"
Viktor didn't even lead him back to the living room. No, instead he kissed Hugo passionately in the hallway near the open door to the bathroom where Hugo had been appraising the soap selection moments ago. And "passion" meant something different in Bulgarian than in English, Hugo pondered, for Viktor had him pressed up against the door jamb with one hand in his light auburn waves and another teasing the skin just behind the waist of his pants. Viktor used their difference in height to his advantage, as well, as he towered over Hugo and pressed one leg between Hugo's uncomfortably, leaving the younger wizard with no chance of escape. All Hugo could do was look for a place to rest his palms, the best place being Viktor's chest.
They broke for a breath, and Hugo panted. Viktor had never been so ravenous before.
"I am very patient man I like to think," Viktor murmured. "I even waited for you to give me the confession that you liked me. I even offer you all this space—that is mine is also yours. And you come here almost every night." He leaned down, his lips near Hugo's ear as he whispered. "It is not fair. You are…the tease."
Hugo felt his body temperature rise what felt like one hundred degrees. He hadn't been expecting this! But what to do? He couldn't leave Viktor like this, and he'd been wanting more intimacy from Viktor for months, and he really was over here so often… But what would he tell his parents? Well, maybe he could make it home just before they woke up or something…
Goddammit, it was too hard to think with Viktor's hand tugging on his shirt so as to feel the bare skin of Hugo's back. All resolve crumbled away.
Screw it, Hugo thought as he returned Viktor's passion. I'll tell them something…though eventually they'll have to know…
- ^-^3
He was reluctant to leave bed the following morning. It was nearly impossible not to cave when he watched Viktor's sleeping face. That face had to be criminal.
Still, Hugo forced himself to move. He kissed Viktor's cheek and murmured in his ear, "I'll be back tonight, Vik, promise…" As he got out of the bed, he was mindful not to look or touch. No. Nope. He'd enjoyed it all last night and it was his and he'd enjoy it more in the future (once his body got used to such activities—good Merlin, his whole body hurt!), but not right now. It was best for Viktor to sleep and for Hugo to make it home so as not to raise further suspicion.
He thought he'd made it when the house sounded fairly quiet. But when he got into the kitchen, he found Rose reading The Quibbler and eating a bowl of cereal.
He paled.
She looked at him over the top of the paper. Her smirk stretched from ear to ear. "Hello, slut."
He reddened.
"Don't try denying anything—I know that look. You were out last night and got some. I'd say 'finally,' but I had a feeling you lost your innocence a long time ago."
He glared at her. "How'd—"
"Don't ask. Sisters know these things." She put the paper down and slurped the milk from her bowl. "Now, I won't ask you who you were with."
Hugo breathed a sigh of relief.
"But—"
Maybe he'd sighed too soon?
"I'll give you some advice: It's good to enjoy flings or romance, whatever you're calling it. However, you better come up with a good excuse for Mum and Dad. Because they know you weren't with Louis last night." Rose observed her younger brother for a full minute, brown eyes eventually meeting blue. "Where were you, anyway?"
And because he was fed up and confident all at once, Hugo embraced the Muggle and magical things about himself that he liked so much and said, "Home."
(The look that Rose gave him was priceless as she understood just how deeply he was in love…he'd have to tell Viktor all about it later over takeaway…)
- ^-^3
Okay, ridiculous, but cute and at times sexy. ;] I LOVE Viktor and writing his accent is just too much fun. XD Also…these two are so hopeless, haha. The kitchen—enough said. *LOL* This fic actually was inspired by a passing line in "Some Die Young," because apparently that was when I decided Hugo used reading glasses. It got me thinking about the Muggle things the magical characters do, so I guess my theme here was "things Muggles and wizards both do"…? Agh, I don't even know anymore. This was just fun to write, and I've missed them, and autumn midnights had been bugging me about a fic involving them lately anyway, so yeah. Vikugh. Good noms. Which is why I just had to doodle a quick cover for this, too—my first official FFN cover! XDDD I'll post it on the dA I'll get hopefully soon…once the semester ends and life calms down… . And two notes: I wasn't sure if it was clear that Louis is a Chudley Cannon, and Rose and Scorpius dine with Astoria who is split from Draco (you'd know why if you read "Some Die Young").
So yeah. Thanks for reading, and please review! And, again, happy birthday, Jessla!
-mew-tsubaki :}