To whom it may concern, I just want it to be noted, I personally have never been to Bulgaria, and I do not wish to offend anyone by the content of my story, everything written about the country is just based on my research, done at 2am, please do not be offended by anything, but if there is something people find particularly bad please let me know. This story is in no way a reflection of the people or the events that occur there. This story was just one that I came up with.
Also, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, etc, only the idea for this story is my own.
Believe it or not, Hermione really was a typical teenage witch, sure, she may have been very bookish, and not very trendy or fashionable, but that doesn't mean she isn't a girl, meaning, that doesn't mean she wasn't interested in boys, it doesn't mean she won't swoon when a world famous athlete shows interest in her. Because really, that's just what she did.
At the end of the tri-wizard tournament, Viktor Krum, world famous professional Quidditch player made her feel special, he made her feel like she was worth a damn, not just for her brains, as a certain Ron Weasley had suggested he did, Viktor liked her for who she was, a smart, attractive girl.
So when he asked her to visit him in Bulgaria, that's just what she decided she wanted to do, and that is just what she did. She may have told a small lie to her parents, but she didn't think it would hurt too much, and really, they would probably never even find out. True, Hermione was a good girl, but ever since she found out she was a witch she had been falling further and further apart from her parents.
She saw them less and less each year, sometimes not at all, she often stayed at school over the breaks while they holidayed or she would go to the Weasleys house. They had slowly faded out of her life, and she grew up quickly, she knew she was a strong smart girl, and she knew she could handle herself in most situations.
When school finished for the year, Hermione took the Hogwarts express back to Kings Cross Station with her friends, laughing and joking about their year, how Harry had managed another year without dying. Though the laughs weren't heartfelt, they weren't full of joy really. Too much had happened, with Cedric being murdered, Voldemort being back, and with the tabloids spreading lies about the trio. Truth be told it hadn't been a good year.
Hermione was sure that was going to change though, she had told her friends of her intention to visit Viktor, Harry had surprisingly been quite mature, wishing her well and making her promise to stay safe, Ginny thought it was utterly romantic and would not stop talking about it, telling Hermione to owl her every day, while Ron was sour about it, but Hermione was determined not to let his mood affect her.
As the train pulled into the station Hermione said a quick goodbye to her friends, and left the train to find her parents, they only had a short amount of time before she needed to be at the airport for her flight. She would be leaving for Bulgaria that very day, and Viktor had promised to meet her at the Bulgarian airport. Upon seeing her parents Hermione pulled a somewhat forced smile.
It was strange not feeling the happiness and love of family anymore, but her parents just could not wrap their heads around their daughters new world, and she couldn't blame them, it had been hard for her at first, but she had been able to learn, experience the world and see things through her own eyes, her parents didn't have that luxury and only ever got second hand accounts from Hermione.
Hermione's mum wrapped her daughter in a tight hug, and her father placed his hand supportively on her shoulder. Hermione's mum began asking her about her year and her studies, Hermione always hated this discussion, ever since her parents found out about the troll incident in her first year they had panicked and wanted to withdraw Hermione immediately, since then she had to alter all her stories to be safe for her parents to be happy. With the year they had had, that wasn't an easy task.
"It was a good year, I learnt lots of new spells and potions, and it's really quite fascinating" she began but was soon interrupted by her mum shushing her.
"That's not what we want to hear dear, tell us about the ball!" Her mother said excitedly. Hermione swallowed a mouthful of thick air and tried to look away from her parents, she could lie to them, and tell them half-truths, but she knew if she looked at them the guilt would eat her away.
"It was magical mum, everyone got dressed up, the hall was beautiful, and I had the most amazing date" Hermione said, getting distracted, she hadn't meant to mention her date to the ball, but it was too late now, her mum instantly perked up telling Hermione to tell her all about her date.
"His name is Viktor" Hermione said a little evasively, her dad turned and looked at her, she hadn't realised they were already at the car.
"I've never heard of this viktor before" he said eyeing his daughter almost suspiciously, "why have we not heard of him before?" he asked.
"Oh, at Hogwarts this year we had some exchange students over, to promote unity between the major magical schools, he was only here for the year" Hermione said a little relieved that she didn't have to lie then, it was a good answer, her parents couldn't refute it, they wouldn't ask how old he was, or where he was from.
"That sounds nice dear" Hermione mum said, as they all piled into the car 'we really must be going though, we don't want to miss our flights"
"Our flights?" Hermione asked, her parents hadn't said anything about going away, it would be a real problem if they had decided to come with her to Bulgaria, they definitely would not approve of her going to Bulgaria on her own to meet a boy. Thankfully this was not the case, Hermione's dad informed her in a distracted tone that they were going to be visiting friends in France again.
With a sigh of relief Hermione relaxed back into the car seat, letting the radios classical music wash over her, as she prepared for the short drive to the airport.
Upon arrival Hermione was thankful that she had shrunk her school trunk before leaving school, with so many people in the airport she wasn't sure she could keep a close enough eye on it while trying to find her way around, she knew she needed to be at Terminal 3 in ten minutes for check in, but she had never been to this airport on her own before, she didn't know where it was. Though with a lot of running around, she was sure she had been in a circle at least five times, she managed to find the gate just in time.
It was only really when she boarded the plane that she began to think this may not have been the best idea, really she had only known Viktor a short time, and she didn't know anything about Bulgaria, but she had come too far to turn back now, she could hear the engines roaring to life and the plane begin to take off with a low rumble.
Hermione had always like flying, in airplanes that is, not on brooms, or anything else for that matter, it may have been that she didn't understand how a broom worked, but she just wasn't comfortable with them like she was with planes, so it was with ease that Hermione plugged in her headphones and relaxed back into her seat, hoping for a nice long sleep for the ride.
It was about halfway through the flight when the elderly woman next to her jostled her back into consciousness. "Sorry dear, I wasn't sure if I should wake you, but they are about to serve supper, I thought you wouldn't want to miss it" the woman said with a friendly smile. Wiping the sleep from her eyes Hermione smiled gratefully back to the woman.
"Thank you very much, I am quite hungry" Hermione replied as her stomach gave a grumble of protest at not being fed yet. The two women shared a little laugh and began talking pleasantly while they ate their dinner. Hermione didn't usually talk to people on planes, she was generally with her parents and would talk to them, but she was very thankful she was sat next to this woman, she was polite, friendly and easy to talk to.
She was also going to Bulgaria, her husband had apparently been offered a new job over there and now he was settled in he was moving her over there with him. Hermione chatted idly back with the woman for quite some time, she didn't know why, but she felt comfortable with this woman, though she didn't tell her the exact reason behind her trip. They soon arrived at the Bulgarian airport and they said their goodbyes as they headed their separate ways.
Having had her shrunken luggage in her pocket Hermione did not need to go through baggage or customs, so she instantly left the airport to wait out the front for Viktor, luckily she did not have to wait long, as he was already there waiting "Herm-own-ninny! How vonderful to see you!" Viktor said pulling Hermione into a hug. "Vos your flight enjoyable?" he asked.
Hermione gave a stiff smile, she wasn't sure she could ever get used to his pronunciation of her name, "It was very nice Viktor, shall we head off? It's very cold here" Hermione said supressing a shiver.
"Vinter is a very cold time for Bulgaria, come come" He said pulling her towards the car, while he was wearing a thick coat and heavy pants Hermione hadn't been quite so prepared, Britain could get cold, but Bulgaria was another story. "Ve vill got to my house first, and I hope to attend a celebration tonight if you vish to join" Viktor said once they had seated. Hermione agreed to go as she had napped during the flight and was not yet tired.
The car ride to Viktors did not take very long at all, and Hermione soon found as beautiful as Bulgaria was, everything was very close together, almost as though the city was built to preserve the landscapes.