04. Viktor's Arrival
Hermione spent the whole next two days worrying about Viktor Krum's arrival.
She had previously thought the worst to be over, but now she worried that maybe the time Viktor spent with them would actually be worse than telling Ron about it.
He'd never liked Viktor, she knew this; always been jealous and immature. This had to end. She really needed him to be civil, maybe even a little more than that. Friendly. Yes, that would work. And if it did, the visit would go smoothly and the hardest part would be behind them.
On the other hand, it had been pretty difficult to get up the courage to tell Ron about Krum. If that was the case, the hardest part was behind them.
In the end, however, she couldn't decide; she could only hope that things would go better from then on.
Ron spent the whole next two days worrying about Viktor Krum's arrival.
He wasn't exactly jealous anymore, more like remorseful. Every time he saw Krum, it was a painful reminder of how stupid he had been back in school: how he hadn't realized his feelings for Hermione, or understood why he'd wanted to knock Krum off his broom for going to the Yule Ball with her.
That wasn't all of it, though. Krum himself had only been the spark. The flame was the chaos that followed: all of the rubbish he knew he'd put Hermione through. It was all because of jealousy. Envy. All of which had started with Krum.
Ron didn't blame him for what he himself had done -- he couldn't, really; it was in no way Krum's fault, and his new maturity would not allow him to think it so.
This was a new realization, though, one he hadn't previously even considered, and he had to admit he had been a bit of a prat to Krum.
But he would change it. If Hermione needed him to, he would do it. Simple as that.
After all, he owed her. He really did.
At the end of the second day, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were all gathered nervously by the door, waiting for Krum to arrive.
It was only five minutes to eight, which was when he was supposed to come, but they'd been like that for hours.
He'd been a touchy subject between them lately: Hermione and Ginny talked about it a lot, sharing their feelings and things like that. Harry teased Ron about it a bit; and Ginny also played a part in that. Ron and Hermione, though, by themselves never talked of it. As far as they were concerned, it was not going to happen until it happened.
Which it was just about to.
Hermione was practically a mess, although she had straightened her hair and looked rather prettier than usual (something that hadn't gone unnoticed by Ron, I might add). She was beginning to sweat, and could barely speak. She had not eaten anything since breakfast, and at work got basically nothing done.
And all because of him. No, not Viktor, Ron. By extension, this did include Viktor too, of course.
But she could honestly care less whether she and Viktor stayed friends or not. She really only had feelings for Ron; she'd known it for what seemed like forever, and the thing that worried her the most about this was that Viktor might somehow do something to their relationship.
But she vowed not to let that happen.
Just as she did, there was a knock on the door. Ginny immediately got up to get it, and Hermione felt a rush of affection towards her close friend (actually, Ginny was probably her closest friend now that the war was over; Ron was, of course, her boyfriend, and she had much more to talk about with Ginny than with Harry). If Harry or Ron had got it, they would be awkward, and Hermione would be worse than awkward, so it only made sense for Ginny, who had the most composure and self-confidence out of any of them, to do it.
"Hello," Viktor said as he entered. "Thank you again for letting me stay."
"Oh, it's fine," Ginny replied, smiling.
"I hope I am not intruding on anything," he said again, and Hermione was once again blown away by his politeness. He was a great guy. She really hoped he would find someone someday who would appreciate him as she hadn't.
"Nothing," Hermione assured him meekly. "We're glad to have you with us."
Viktor smiled a bit, and Harry and Ron got up to take his bags into the room he would be staying in. When they returned, Hermione said, "Er… would you care to join us for dinner?" She immediately scolded for herself for asking it, because it was pretty obvious he would be expecting food. He was their guest, wasn't he?
"If you do not mind."
"No, no, of course not, of course not," she said, and it might be interesting to you to hear that both Ron and Ginny were strongly reminded of their mother as she did.
Hermione, though, just blushed furiously and began setting the table.
Once dinner (chicken and potatoes) was on the table, the five endured strained conversation for the majority of the meal. Work, living situations, and current events were all discussed, but nobody really seemed to take any interest in what they were talking about; in fact, Ron didn't say a word the entire time. He wasn't unpleasant, just quiet. Hermione could live with it, although she'd decided to have a talk with him about that later.
Finally they were done, and it hadn't been so bad… in fact, Hermione conceded that it had actually gone rather well.
"You'll be sleeping in here," she said to Viktor, showing him their extra bedroom, which had been renovated a tiny bit (by magic, of course) for him.
"It's very nice. Thank you again, Herm-own-ninny," said Viktor. "Haff a good night."
"You – you as well," she replied awkwardly, closing the door as she left, to hide her blush.
Soon after, alone in her room, the ever-worrying Hermione was thinking again about the things that had troubled her before Viktor had arrived. Like – was the worst really over?
This was the biggest question. That first night had gone extremely well; so well, in fact, that someone so negative as her might decide that things could only get worse.
And maybe she had decided that. Right then, she didn't know much other than the fact that she was really confused… but would just have to take things as they came.