Viktor felt his breath leave him as he saw her, perched there with a book in her hand. He had not imagined to see her here, expecting to have an awkward introduction the next morning at work. She smiled sheepishly at him, the same smile she had sent him so many times and he felt himself gasp, sending her a sliver of a smile in reply. Then, she looked down at her book and regarded him no further.
"I am here to see Blaguna." He whispered before thinking, hardly loud enough for her to hear him. She smiled knowingly and nodded.
"Blaguna, Mr Krum is here to see you!" She called out to the back of the shop in perfect Bulgarian. He felt his eyes widen hearing her speaking his mother tongue. She would have never attempted to speak his language in front of him when he was last with her, making an excuse of nerves. Now she was confident and proud, a quality he found exceedingly appealing.
Hermione attempted not to stare at Viktor. He looked vastly better than when she had last seen him. He would be twenty two now and he had matured in so many ways. He had grown at least a few inches, his body had filled out with even more muscle than when she had seen him and his face, that had been boyishly charming was now handsome, still dawning the slightly crooked nose. Hermione couldn't have imagined Viktor looking any better than he had when he was eighteen, but here he stood, just as flustered as the first time he had spoken to her, handsomer than ever.
She had to admit that she felt cocky when she called out to Blaguna in Bulgarian. The expression of shock and admiration plastered on his face was priceless.
"She will be out soon." She cooed to him and chuckled lightly to herself when all he could do was nod, too flustered to speak. He walked slowly towards the desk and Hermione had to bite against her inner cheek to stop from licking her lips. She longed for him to say something, to put an end to the silence that had developed between them.
"Her-my-nee," He began and she felt herself sigh at his pronunciation of her name, it being absent from her ears for too long. She smiled at him, beckoning him to continue. However, just as he was about to begin-
"Viktor, darling!" Blaguna called out to him. Her rotund figure slamming into his, her frizzy red curls getting stuck in his nose and mouth. Hermione giggled as he hopelessly attempted to be free of the embrace.
"Come come, we have so much to discuss." She said, pulling him along by the hand. The last thing she saw of Viktor before he got dragged into Blaguna's layer was a pleading expression plastered across his face.
She had hoped, when moving to Vratsa, that her feelings for Viktor would remain dormant, as she had believed they were. But now, with her hand pressed over her mouth, she chuckled, feeling as if she were a fifteen year old girl again. A hopeless feeling washed over her and she came down from her giddy state. He's Viktor Krum, you idiot! Why would he go for you when he could have any woman in the world?! Hermione thought to herself. There was also the issue of the train of unanswered letters and the lack of correspondence on his behalf. She sighed, knowing things could not go back to the way they were, because nothing was the same. Hermione decided to let herself have a little crush, which she thought couldn't do too much damage, then move on and forget about Viktor all together.
Viktor sat, nodding along to Blaguna's drivel about who had gotten married and who was having children. He felt an itching to be near Hermione, to bombard her with questions. Although she had grown a few inches and her face had filled out, along with her body, she was still the same timid young girl, glancing at him from behind a book in the library that he remembered. He felt his body swell as he thought of working with her everyday. However, his mind sank when he thought of all the letters he had sent to the address Potter had given him after the war. She had not answered any of them and he was sure that she had found someone new, perhaps she was dating Potter. Viktor had to rid his mind of this thought, feeling his body become nauseous and hot with rage at the image of Hermione in the arms of another man, let alone Harry Potter.
Hermione quickly closed up the shop at six o'clock and popped her head into the back of the shop.
"Blaguna, I'm heading home now." Hermione chimed and Viktor's head snapped around to look at her soft body stood by the doors.
"Of course, dear. I shall see you tomorrow!" Blaguna called out to the young woman. Viktor began to panic, wanting to walk home with Hermione and speak with her about their time apart.
"I am afraid I must leave also, Blaguna, but I shall return with mother next time she visits you." Blaguna responded positively to Viktor's promise to return with his mother. She kissed him on the cheek before letting him out of her grasp.
Viktor practically ran to catch up with Hermione, she had not gotten far, walking along, reading her book. He noted that she looked like an angel in her white summer dress, curls filling the space around her head. He calmed his breathing before approaching her.
"Her-my-nee." He began and she looked up at him with the twinkle in her eye that he had always remembered.
"May I valk vith you?" He asked in english, knowing that talking in her first language was probably a relief after conversing in her second language for so long. She smiled softly, placing the book into her small satchel.
"Of course, Viktor." She replied, becoming slightly shy being reminded of his attentive nature.
They walked slowly, in silence for a few minutes, before Viktor turned to her.
"It has been too long. I do not know you vere effen training to be medivitch." He said in a surprised tone.
"I needed a job after the war, and becoming a mediwitch seemed like good employment. I enrolled only a week or two after the war had ended." She stated, looking down at the ground, ashamed to speak of the war.
"I read about you often, in papers. You vere all people speak of." He meant it as a compliment. However, he noticed, when she looked at the ground that she was still just as nervous as she had always been.
"How do you find Ireland?" She managed to ask, pulling herself from her slight depression at her own mention of the war. She blinked back the tears that had started forming before looking up into his eyes.
Viktor spoke about Ireland positively, not wanting to mention the tears he had seen in Hermione's eyes. She had been one of the hardest hit in the war, becoming the poster child for the movement against the death eaters.
"I haff returned to Vultures to train. I begin tomorrow." He beamed at her, hoping that she was as glad as he was that they would be so close.
"That is wonderful!" She called to him, placing a hand on his forearm, sending his heart aflutter.
"Have you missed it?" She asked, softer this time.
"More than I can say. Bulgarians play different to Irish and I haff missed my friends." She smiled up at him, glad that he was happy to return.
"Do you apparate or floo?" He asked her, wondering how she got back to England, and why she was walking somewhere to do it.
"Oh no, I live in Vratsa. I can not deal with having to use magic every morning to get to work." She laughed, realising how ridiculous she must have sounded.
"This is good." He replied. "You not haff to tire yourself apparating home each day." She nodded, glad that he understood her point of view.
"It must be tough, being avay from friends and lover like this." Viktor had not realised what he had said before he saw Hermione giggling in front of him.
"Vhat haff I said?" He asked, worried that he had embarrassed himself. When she composed herself she turned to him with an expression between embarrassment and joy on her face, not remembering the last time she had felt so carefree.
"I am sorry. I shouldn't laugh like that. It is just, there is no lover to speak of. Harry and Ron are doing just fine without me. Harry has Ginny and Ron is not my biggest fan anyway. So it is me and my books at the moment." Viktor felt his heart break as he heard her speak of her life without friends. He had always been jealous of Potter when he was at Hogwarts, being so close to Hermione. But now, seeing her hiding her loneliness with laughter, he realised he would have given anything for her to have a real, true friend in her life, even if it was Potter.
"You must have been the same in Ireland, missing your friends and lover." She mirrored his words. He leant towards her with a soft smile on his face, taking Hermione's breath away. Viktor shook his head.
"I haff no lover and friends keep contact in letters." Hermione nodded, sure that he was right, that friends would stay friends if they wanted to. His mention of letters made her wonder why he had not replied to any of hers, but this thought was passed aside when they reached her flat.
"This is me." She pointed up to the block of flats and Viktor nodded, taking her hand and bowing to her.
"I see you tomorrow, Her-my-nee." He smiled, brighter than Hermione had seen in years and looked into her eyes for a few long moments.
"Until then." She squeezed his hand before turning and climbing the steps up to her flat, not looking back.
She closed the door behind her and brought a hand to her head. A wide smile grew on her face and she began to chuckle, thinking of how silly she must have seemed, seeing the man only once and thinking herself half smitten with him already. He said he had no lover and Hermione thought that this was a good piece of information to have obtained. She looked in her letter bowl and found it empty. Friends keep contact in letters. Viktor had said and he was right. Hermione began to have a sneaking suspicion that her friends were drawing away, becoming distant. She sighed, pushing thoughts of Harry and Ron from her mind as she sat and ate, attempting to keep a clear mind. One hot shower later and Hermione was laid in bed. Her last thought before she drifted off into slumber was that any attempt to repress these feelings that began to swell within her would be done in vain, and with that she fell softly to sleep.
He had apparated home, needing to be alone. Viktor smiled wider than he had in what he was sure was years and thought of every aspect of her being. Every smile she had sent him, how her body seemed so soft as they walked side by side. He had to rest else he was sure he was going to combust. He couldn't help his feelings for her, she was unlike anyone he had met and although he had tried to find a replacement, she was truly one of a kind.
He laid in bed and thought of Hermione. Did she feel the same? Her light blushing smiles suggested that perhaps she did, but he couldn't be sure that she wasn't merely being polite. He would have to talk with her more to establish if any feelings were there. Viktor couldn't comprehend the effect she had on him. He could not have tolerated the thought of a relationship with any other witch, finding their company lacking in one way or another, but being with her for only a few fleeting minutes had him imagining her in his arms, sight seeing together, kissing, embracing. Before he let himself indulge in this simple pleasure, he closed his eyes tightly, wishing for the hours to pass by quickly, so that he could see her and be in the company of Hermione once more.