Author's Note:

Because I am a very impatient person and ridiculously excited about this story, I'm posting this chapter super early!

I've come to the decision that I might be writing at least one more Hermione/Viktor story in the near future. Perhaps a larger one that is a little more involved than Finding Home is. I've always enjoyed the idea of this pairing and writing them has just made me fall further in love with them. I very well may have found my new favorite addiction, and there's not nearly enough involved stories with this pairing to satiate my craving. Hermione/Neville is another one that I love to read that I can never find enough of. Someday I might branch into writing something for that pairing but probably not for a while. I don't quite have the confidence in my ability to write Neville just yet.

For those that are following The Voice and Simon Says, I will update them again, in time. For whatever reason, my muse is being stubborn and the thought wheel has come to a halt. I'm doing some writing/brainstorming activities when I can to try to get it moving again. But it is slow going. I have not abandoned them! They are just not playing very nicely with me, currently.

If you've not followed any of my other stories, you can find me on Tumbler at SignedABD. My account there is pretty new and slow moving, so you'll have to cut me a little bit of a break while I figure out ways to improve my activity. Any questions, thoughts, suggestions that you have that you would rather not leave in a review are more than welcome there!

Another huge thank you to Rachael who was kind enough to offer her time to Beta this story. She is amazing and I am forever grateful for her help!

This chapter and all remaining chapters of this story will contain lemons. If it's not your style, as always, I will not be offended if you chose not to read the rest of the story.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy Chapter 2!

Finding Home

Chapter 2

4 March 2006 - Athens, Greece

Hermione sighed thoughtfully as she got ready for the day a few mornings later. They had talked like the old friends they were until closing time every night that week. He had walked her back to the door of her rented single room apartment and left her with one final, toe-curling kiss. When she had offered to let him in, Viktor had merely smiled and wished her good night, promising to see her again the next morning. It was difficult for her to believe that the man who had captivated her so thoroughly throughout the years seemed to be equally captivated by her.

She showered and braided her wet hair quickly, before dressing in a simple but comfortable loose black tiered skirt that fell to her knees and a light blue vest top all while lost in her thoughts. Hermione had just shrugged another long sleeved cardigan, this one a beloved gift from Luna, pale blue with rainbow striped sleeves, when there was a knock at her door. She felt a happy grin cross her expression as she opened the door. Viktor's naturally stoic expression morphed with his answering smile and Hermione's heart stuttered in her chest while her butterflies took flight in her belly. She stretched up for a kiss and stepped back to allow him to enter the room.

Hermione closed the door behind him and turned to grab her shoes when a warm hand wrapped gently around her wrist and pulled her back around. She was absently surprised at how little space there was between them. Before she could question the motion, his lips covered hers and once again jolts shot through her body, and she couldn't hold back the hum of approval. Hermione was quite sure that she could happily drown in this man's kisses. It was something she was sure she had never experienced before. It was addicting.

She allowed him to guide her backward without a break in the kiss, though she was mildly disappointed that the man was moving her away from the bed. Instead, she felt his hands circle her waist and lift her to sit on the counter in the small kitchenette. Her knees parted as he stepped closer, wedged between her thighs. That sensation alone, despite the layers of clothing between them, was more than enough to stir desire. His hands slid from her waist to above her knees where her skirt had bunched from their position, and his fingertips ghosted over the bare skin and then she felt his warm palm follow the same path, gliding up each of her thighs. They moved over her skirt and squeezed her hips, sliding further upwards until his fingers found the sliver of bared skin between her vest top and her skirt.

Hermione shuddered when his warm hands caressed over her ribs, his thumbs brushing the underside of her breasts. A breathy moan escaped her as he moved from her lips to the column of her throat. She brought her hands through his hair, holding his head to her as sensations rushed over her like a tidal wave. Her hips rolled forward automatically, meeting the evidence that she affected him just as much. The muffled groan against her collarbone and the tightening of his hands that had dropped to her hips at the contact was erotic, and she wanted more. Desperate for skin, Hermione lowered her hands from his hair and slipped them beneath his shirt, splaying her fingers over the muscle they found before moving around to his back.

Her touch seemed to awaken him. He kissed her again, slow and sensually, before resting his forehead against hers, much like he had done the night in the alley. Both of their breathing came out heavily, "I am sorry, Moyata. I had not meant to push so far."

Hermione smiled in amusement, "You didn't force anything, Viktor. You know I'd have stopped you if you had."

"Da, I know you would." Viktor pulled himself upright but didn't move from between her thighs, "What is it that you want here? With me? From me?"

"I never really thought it was possible that you might return my interest until last week," Hermione replied, thoughtfully. "I've dreamt that you would. Hoped. But I hadn't let myself go so far as to believe it. I'm still a bit disbelieving despite our encounters if I'm honest."

Viktor cocked his head and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, "What has you disbelieving?"

"I mean no disrespect to you, Viktor, but you would hardly be the first person to use affection to gain sex and release," Hermione said, practically.

His hands gripped her hips once again and pulled her forward until their lower bodies pressed together. The sudden movement drew a gasp and her attention shot up to his face when he spoke, "There is no confusion, I want you, lyubimata mi. I have wanted you. But I want you in all ways. Not just today, tomorrow, this week, this month. Always. And that is why I fight to maintain control. To show you that you are more than that."

"What if I don't want you to keep control?" Hermione questioned.

"Now that you know my desire, lyubimata mi, tell me, what do you want?"

Hermione flushed but met his gaze and answered as honestly as she knew how "I wanted you ten years ago, I want you now, and I want the opportunity to still be with you ten years from now."

Without warning, not that he needed to give any, he kissed her again. This one was different than the ones shared before. It had the heat and passion from earlier in spades, but there was an undercurrent of possession and need. She responded immediately and eagerly, the fire that had ebbed with their conversation stirring back to life.

One hand braced at the nape of her neck, tilting her head back to allow him better access to her throat and that sweet spot just below her ear while his other hand retraced the path from her knee and glided up her thigh. A soft moan escaped as his fingers teased over her inner thigh, just inches from where her body was throbbing, begging for his touch. He quickly dropped his hand from the back of her neck and wrapped the arm around her waist, lifting her bum just enough to slide her knickers down over her hips letting them slip down her legs and onto the floor.

His lips caught hers again as his fingertips found her damp core, muffling the sounds that escaped her. Viktor slipped his index finger inside of her as his thumb deftly located the bundle of nerves just above. The simultaneous stimulation forced her to break the kiss, biting down on her lip to stifle the onslaught of noises his hand was drawing from her. Desperate to feel him, Hermione reached to unbuckle his belt, his free hand closed over hers, halting her motion. Her protests died on her lips when a second finger joined the first thrusting in and out of her core, and her hand moved to the countertop to brace herself.

"Viktor," she panted, "Viktor, please!"

"Az te khvanakh, lyubimata mi," he murmured, slipping entirely into his native language. She felt the heat begin to build and then it was gone, along with the hand that had been pushing her towards completion. She opened her eyes that she hadn't realized had closed and gasped at the top of his head between her thighs. The first swipe of his tongue over her sex drug out a high whimper that she was unable to stifle. Her hand that had previously been clinging to his back grasped at his hair as he positioned her thighs onto his broad shoulders. The second and third swipes had her squirming. His two fingers pushed back inside of her as his mouth latched onto her clit licking and suckling. Heat blasted over her, and her body trembled until Viktor turned his head just slightly either direction while latched onto her. With a cry, her body arched, her muscles tightened.

As she came down from her high, Viktor stood, kissing each of her inner thighs on the way up and catching her lips with his. She reached again for his belt his hands stopping hers once more. Viktor smiled into the kiss. "I am fine lyubimata mi," he said, pulling back. His expression was a mixture of masculine pride and affection at her rumpled and satiated look. "You are so beautiful, Hermione."

"Why won't you let me take care of you?" Hermione asked, pouting slightly, ignoring the compliment that had her already flushed face reddening further.

"I will," he promised. "Just not yet."

"Soon?"

"Da, soon," Viktor agreed.

Eventually, the couple detangled themselves and righted their clothing both inexplicably shy following their previous activities. Hermione slipped her arm into his as they left the building and they went in search of lunch and sights to see. It was exceedingly pleasant to have him in Athens with her. The majority of her travels had been solo journeys. Which usually suited her perfectly but having company, his company, made this particular trip much more memorable. After all, what girl wouldn't want a vacation alone with the gorgeous man who had been haunting her favorite dreams since they were a teenager?

26 March 2006 - Marseille, France

It had been a wonderful month. Fantastic, thrilling, exciting, and downright frustrating. Ever since meeting up with Viktor partway through her visit to Athens, the pair had been nearly inseparable. Which was a very new experience for Hermione, considering she had been traveling alone for so many years. At first, she had thought that the constant presence of another person would wear on her. It had in a couple of moments, but it was always a fleeting feeling. His company was far more enjoyable than it was anything else.

Once their travels brought them to France, the couple chose to room together and share the expense rather than paying for two separate accommodations that would leave one empty more often than not anyway. Which would have been fantastic, except Viktor had been unfailingly consistent in not allowing their physical relationship to reach sex. They shared a bed, and very few things in her life gave Hermione more comfort, security, and happiness than waking up each morning cocooned in his arms with his torso curved protectively around her back. And while they progressed in intimacy, the wizard had yet to allow her to bring him to release other than with her hands. And even that had only occurred once when he had simply lost control in the moment. That's not to say that he left her unsatisfied — quite the opposite. His hands seemed to know her body better than even she did and he routinely proved to her how beautifully he could make it sing.

For some reason that Hermione had yet to understand, he denied both of them. Whenever she had asked him about it, she received different versions of the same answer. "Not yet, but soon." Generally soothed with one Bulgarian endearment or another. She didn't think he knew it yet, but she had figured out exactly what those terms meant, and it made her heart flutter and the butterflies take flight whenever he used them. She no longer doubted that he truly meant them.

Was one month enough? She wondered. Was it long enough to know that you're in love with someone who had held your heart for a decade already? Hermione wasn't sure of the answer to that question. They could talk about anything and everything. He gave her a sense of peace and security that she hadn't felt in many years. Her six years of travel had brought her peace and happiness, but none of that leveled up to the ease she had felt since that first evening at the pub in Greece. Her heart raced and butterflies flew every time she looked up to find him watching her with an unnamable warmth in his expression. His smile was contagious and his affection addictive. When he looked at her with that heated stare, her mouth went dry, her skin tingled, and her knickers dampened. He had such an undeniable effect on her. And she knew it was mutual.

Was that love? Hermione couldn't say for sure. Though, if she were truly honest with herself, love had been present between them for years. While it wasn't a fully evolved romantic love, it certainly had never been strictly platonic. The real question, she thought, was if she was in love with Viktor Krum. Hermione looked up at the man sitting at the table across from her, thoroughly engrossed in his breakfast, and smiled warmly.

lyubimata mi - My love

Az te khvanakh, lyubimata mi - I have got you, my love