Ack, I'm lazy. This chapter spans a longgg time, (over a month,) and again, I'm sorry it's short. The next chapter is written. How many reviews can I get before I post it? (Because the next chapter is long and filled with Viktor goodness!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Viktor is just a delicious man.

Happenings

Leigh Ann
November 10, 10:34 A.M.
History of Magic Classroom

"The mail is here," CG Lingam sighed, setting down her pointer stick and sitting down at her desk. "Go ahead and read it. I'm not going to inspect it, kids, so don't worry. Your love lives are safe with me."

The kids laughed nervously. Ever since the attack on Halloween, everyone had been tense and waiting for something else to happen. All extra-curricular activities were shut down, even Quidditch and football. Funny Girl and Beauty and the Beast had been canceled for the time being. No matter how angry all of us were, the General was even angrier. Curfews were restricted even more, and every student was to be accounted for at every moment. Nothing like that could happen again.

I reached up and plucked the letter that carrier pigeon in front of me held. The Salem Witch Institute insisted on using them instead of owls, like England, and wouldn't even think about giving the students free rein on what animal they wanted to use. It was from my pen pal at the Institute.

Dear Leigh Ann,
I'm hesitant to send this letter to you. Although nothing like that has happened here yet, strange things have been occurring. Students are becoming secretive, and I haven't heard from anyone from any other Wizard school in the States. I'm sorry to hear of your predicament. Send my love to those students in the infirmary and the ones who have left from fear. Please be careful.

Yours truly,
Selene

P.S.
That butterscotch you sent me was simply delicious! Thank you for it, and I hope you'll send more next time. Adieu!

I sighed and rolled the parchment up, taking an M&M out of my pocket and feeding it to the bird. Viktor wouldn't talk to me about this, so I had resorted to talking to Selene. Apparently none of the teachers were allowed to tell us anything.

I didn't see how that would help us if, in the end, it only hurt us.

November 30, 10:49 P.M.
Viktor's Classroom

I closed my eyes and tried to breathe like he was telling me to do, but all I could do was concentrate on him. The room no longer smelled like the old teacher, all feminine and light. Instead it was deep and masculine, a smell that only Viktor could produce, and it was intoxicating.

"Leahn," he said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face, "I am seeing into your mind easily. You must concentrate."

I growled and opened my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. I was sitting on the floor in his classroom on a mat, still trying to improve my abilities to block people from my mind. My mind was starting to get weary—we'd been at this for almost three hours. "I can't concentrate with you standing right there!"

"You moost." He leaned down and looked me in the eyes, his a chocolate brown, mine a green hazel. "If ve vere to be attacked by—anyvone...you vould be the moost vulnerable." I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he leaned in and gently placed a kiss on my lips. It only lasted for a second, but it still left me flabbergasted. "Now...clear your mind.

"Now I definitely can't."

December 5, 7:34 P.M.
Officer Latrines

It was nice to feel the water rushing over my body. I'd had a long, hard day working with the Officers in field training, not to mention a mentally-taxing day with Viktor intruding into my brain. All six of us in that class were ready to collapse by the end of it—and it was only at ten in the morning.

I sighed and washed the soap off of my body before turning off the water and stepping out. I towel-dried my hair, wrapping my towel around me before I started brushing my hair. I passed Captain Jeanette McCurdy as she walked towards the showers, her tote in hand, and I said hi. Her mouth opened as she looked at me. Her things fell to the floor. "L-Leigh Ann..."

"Yeah?" I was pulling my wand out to dry my hair so that I wouldn't freeze when I went outside. Normally I did this in the locker room, but Jeanette had stopped me.

Her hand was shaking as she pointed me towards a mirror. "Uhm..."

"What?" I asked, looking at her in confusion. Maybe I'd gotten some shampoo on my face or something. I couldn't even imagine what it actually was. Well...until I looked in the mirror.

General Harrington
December 5, 8:00 P.M.
The General's Office

The General rubbed his face as he looked at the mess in front of him. Not only was the girl's hair turned a bright red, but her scream had woken every beast in the forest and they were now rampaging the woods. I'll have to send out the Rangers and get them to hunt a few down. He sighed and looked at her.

First Lieutenant Leigh Anna Marie Nelson had always been one of his favorite students. Ever since she'd been in the Triwizard Tournament, and before that, she'd been on the top of his list. He pictured her becoming a leader in the American Ministry of Magic, or an ambassador for her country. Now he was looking at her with bright, fire-engine red hair and the word "WHORE" written in capital letters over her forehead.

"Do you know who could have done this, Leigh Ann?" he asked, cradling his face in his hands.

"N-no," she said shakily, her eyes filling with tears. "I-I trained with the Officers this morning, a-and with Professor Krum in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then I went to take a shower and...this."

She'd already given him her shampoo, conditioner, and soap. The school nurse was looking at them, trying to find a way to reverse it. According to Leigh Ann, she'd already tried to get rid of it. All it accomplished was turning her hair a darker red and the words becoming upper cased.

"I didn't see anything happening during Officer Training," he said, making his fingers form a point in front of his face. He knew because he was the sole chaperone of that class—no one else would train his Officers. "And believe me, I would have." He sent a small wave of magic out, determining to find the source of this. "I have called Professor Krum in. Are you sure that there is no source of this, Miss Nelson? Could it be petty female jealousy, or a classmate playing a prank?"

Her face paled slightly, her eyes widening, before her face became a mask. "No, Sir. I do not know who this could have been, or what I could have done to cause it."

"Good." Though I'm not sure I believe you exactly, Miss Nelson.

A knock sounded at the door and the General bade Viktor inside. He was dressed in all black, his eyes showing nothing as he walked into the room and stood beside the chair that Leigh Ann was sitting in. He looked down to give a greeting, then jumped back a foot. "Neelsoon! Vhat happeened?"

"I would like to know the same question as well, Professor." The General couldn't help but notice the thick red blush that was put onto Viktor's face, as well as Leigh Ann's. He had his suspicions, but he wasn't going to say anything...yet. "I would like to know as well."

Leigh Ann
December 25, 8:23 A.M.
The Nelson Family Ranch
Oak Ridge, South Carolina
America

I knew that this had to be one of the best days of my life. I was lying in my very own bed back on the ranch, there was a light coating of snow on the ground outside, and I could smell gingerbread baking downstairs in the kitchen. What a great way to wake up on a Christmas morning… I thought, but there would be one more thing that would be better, and I rolled over, ready to feel a warm, hard male body next to mine, but all I did was fall onto the hard, cold wood of my floor.

"Ouch," I mumbled as I got up off of my sore butt, untangling myself from the sheets. Well, it's still a good morning…I think. I stood up, took a deep breath of gingerbread, and was about to get dressed when a shriek came from downstairs. All I could think about was someone attacking my family, so I raced out the room, jumping over the stair railing and landing straight in the middle of the living room.

When I landed in the center of a scene, I straightened up with a blush. Everyone was staring at me as they held their presents, confusion on their faces.

"Leahn, are you alright?" came a familiar voice. I turned to see Viktor in his Bulgarian National Quidditch pajamas. He looked funny, standing there, holding a few presents in his arms while the soft light of the fireplace showed around him. The Christmas decorations looked funny, too, at least around him.

A hot blush covered my cheeks and I really wanted to disappear for a little while, especially with all of my family in the room. "I-I heard a scream…I thought…" I feel like I'm being stared at for my hair and giant "WHORE" on my head again...damn, I'm glad that's gone!

"Leah, you'll never guess!" came a small voice. I turned to see one of my little cousins running up to me, her eyes wide with excitement. "Santa came last night!" She was one of Rebecca's, my mom's other sister, and this little girl was half-blood like me. Theresa had short, bobbed red hair and the brightest green eyes you've ever seen. Some of her front teeth were missing. Other than that little fact, Theresa looked exactly like her mother, Rebecca.

I had six cousins. Rebecca, my mom's older sister, only had seven-year-old Theresa, and as Taylor had never married, she'd never had kids. The rest came from my dad's side. My dad's older brother, Samuel, had two kids, little eleven-year-old Jonny and seven-year-old McKenzie. My dad's older sister, Kate, (who wasn't here,) had the other three, although one of them was older than me, in college, and the others were fourteen-year-old Drew and ten-year-old Nathalie.

"No, Santa didn't come," Jonny, uncle Samuel's kid, growled, snatching away Theresa's present. We all flinched, ready for one of her loud screams of protest, but she just looked smug. Jonny looked like all Nelson men did at that age, tall and wimpy, but strangely aggressive. "I stayed up all night just to see if he did, and I didn't see—!" He paused as he read out the nametag with his wide blue eyes. "No way!"

I looked away before they could see the smirk in my eyes.

Little McKenzie gasped in her seven-year-old way and said, "There's one for everybody!"

Everyone, even the adults, looked around. Half of my family, the Wizard half, looked funny next to the other, Muggle half. Not to mention the fact that the wizard half had mostly bright red or bright blonde hair, while the Muggles were dark-skinned and dark-haired. Everyone picked up a present wrapped in a shining silver wrapping paper, a bright red bow tied around it. Each of them were various shapes and sizes, each one weighing different.

"Has everyone eaten?" I asked, grabbing the few presents that were under the tree for me. One was from "Santa", of course, so I didn't look suspicious, and a couple were anonymous. But the ones that I did see were from the my family and one very large, very suspicious box from Viktor.

Yes, apparently, everyone had eaten.

"Is everyone here?"

All of the smaller children started counting off everyone loudly, excitement in their eyes. But the older children and adults looked around, curious of who the Santa actually was. When my eyes connected with Viktor's, he smiled knowingly and I blushed. "Everyvone is here, Leahn," he said with a chuckle. "Go, children, open your presents."

There were squeals of joy as wrapping paper of many different colors was thrown every which way. I looked around to see all of the smaller kids tearing open their Santa presents first, their eyes going wide with the small treasures. Mostly it was small wizarding figurines that could be explained by mechanics, but little, quiet Theresa's gift was hanging over Viktor for the day. She, like many other girls, had fallen for the Quidditch player.

My eyes landed on my mother opening her gift. In hers was a small, perfectly-drawn picture of my father that I'd painfully extracted from an artist at school. (I'd owed her private singing lessons for two weeks, and my ears had completely died.) As he hadn't been able to be here that year, I knew that she was starting to cry, so I turned to give her some privacy.

Next I looked at my Uncle. He let out a slow whistle as he weighted the package of Columbian cigars in his hand. My aunt Rebecca opened up a box of miniature moving horses, which were secretly her favorite thing in the world. (The reason she married her husband, a horse breeder.)

I smiled softly to myself and leaned down to open my presents. First, the one from Santa so I didn't look conspicuous. The paper came apart easily, though I flinched at remembering all of the paper cuts from wrapping all of those presents. All I'd gotten myself had been a small, digital picture frame with moving pictures of Viktor and I.

I picked up another present, one of the anonymous ones, (because I knew that I couldn't open my family's because we had to open those in a few days, and Viktor would be in Bulgaria,) and slowly opened the plain black wrapping. Inside I almost squealed and threw the present away, but I caught the squeal in a hard cough and gently sat it down. Geez! Who got me a gun? I slowly picked it up by the butt and carried the dangerous-looking black thing over to my mother, hanging upside down. She grimaced as I handed it over to her, and I went back and opened the card, seeing that it read 'Just in case.' The other presents I'd gotten had been a complete Quidditch set, which the kids had gone nuts over, a wand-cleaning kit, and my very own Nelson Jersey, which every Nelson kid got sometime after they'd turned eighteen.

I was scared to look over at Viktor as he opened his presents. I knew that he knew that it was from me, so I was worried what he thought about it. When I looked over, he was still staring at the box. But he picked it up and slowly opened it as if it were the most precious thing he had ever seen. He probably didn't know that I was watching. When he unwrapped it, there was a small box. He opened it.

His eyes widened when a soft melody came out of it, a beautifully carved Bulgarian snow-scape of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital. Inside I'd placed wizard and Muggle pictures alike of our time together. There were little taffy candies from the Fourth of July festival and my class ring in there, whereas he'd thought he'd lost it, I'd actually put it in this box for safe-keeping.

I picked up my few presents and went to sit next to Viktor. "If you open it from the other direction," I said softly, leaning my head on his muscular shoulder, "there's a sun-scape of Washington, D.C. To remind you of me." I looked up at his beautiful brown eyes, watching them dance in amazement as he wrapped an arm around my waist and gave my forehead a hesitant peck.

"You…you made this?"

I nodded, snuggling against his side. "Yup." Three weeks of endless Charms and Transfigurations, yeah, but I made it. "Do you like it?"

His large, callused hand gently cupped the side of my face, bringing my eyes up to his again. "Da. It is like you. Eentreeguing, deefereent." He leaned forward, brushing his lips against mine, much to the delight of Theresa and the other younger children, and I couldn't help but laugh as his morning stubble tickled my face and the children's giggles got contagious. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I said softly, though it wasn't too soft right at the end when he grasped me around the waist and pulled me into his lap. "Viktor! Not in front of the kids!"

He wrapped his arms around my waist, chuckling as I struggled against his hard, warm body. "Stay. Bring over her present! I half her held." Was there something that I was missing? There must have been, because that huge present under the tree was being brought over to me by my brother and sister, and everyone was smiling widely.

"No, I told you that you didn't have to get me a present!" I exclaimed, struggling against him, trying to get away. I loved presents, yeah, but simple was best, and that thing looked huge!

"I did anyvays," he said smugly, holding me as tight as possible in order to keep me there. There was no way that I could get away, unfortunately. So I sat there in Viktor's lap as my siblings put the box in front of me. I sighed and made myself sit there and act as if I wanted the present. Secretly, I kind of did, because I wanted to know what he had gotten me. But I'd told him no, I hadn't wanted a present. And he'd gotten me one anyways.

On top of the big box was a very, very little box. I picked it up, aware of everyone watching me. It was small, with a tiny blue ribbon tied around the top into one of the most beautiful bows I had ever seen. I almost didn't want to open it—but I did. Obviously jewelry.

When I pulled off the ribbon and took the top off the box, I gasped out loud. Its…its… It was beautiful. I slipped the bracelet around my hand, watching the small, faceted giraffes, elephants, and lions dance around my wrist, their tiny gold surfaces glittering in the dim light. In between each of the animals was a small amber stone, wrapped in golden twine.

Tears sprung to my eyes, but I refused to cry, so I wiped my eyes with the heel of my hand. "Are you alright?" Viktor asked gently into my ear, kissing beneath it. "If…you do not like it…"

"No!" I said quickly, trying to turn around to look at him, but he held me in my place. "N-no, I love it." And, as I looked at it, I instantly wondered… "You made this, didn't you?" I asked in awe, looking up to him by craning my neck. The small blush on his cheeks and the pleased look in his eyes made me know. "Thank you. I love it." I love you. Strange thought, but yeah, I did love him! Why hadn't I thought of it sooner?

When I was near him, I got an urge to jump his bones, but it was more than that. My heart melted when he held my hand, and when he looked into my eyes, all I could think about was how much I loved being near him and hearing his deep voice with that adorable accent. I...I love you, Viktor.

"Open the next one, loff," he said gently, giving my waist a soft squeeze and a gentle peck on my cheek. "You vill like more, yes?"

How could I like this more? I wondered, pulling the bright red box closer. I started pulling off the paper when I noticed that something inside the box…was moving! "What the hell is in here?" I asked at the smiles of everyone around me. I pulled open the box, which I then noticed had holes in it. And out jumped a little ball of white fur.

"IT'S A PUPPY!" I shrieked as the little ball of fur jumped all over me, licking my face and snuggling up against me with its softness. "Ohhhhh, look at you!" It was just off of its mother's milk, I could tell that, and it was small enough at the moment to fit in mine and Viktor's hands. Its fur stuck out all the way from its body, frizzy, and it had bright blue eyes. "Viktor…did you get this for me?"

"Do you like him?"

Now I definitely knew that I loved this man. But how to tell him? "Yes!" I exclaimed, putting the fuzzball to my face to let him lick me. "What do we name him?"

Viktor thought for a moment before putting his cheek against mine, looking down at the dog as it hoped between my legs and played in the circle I created for him. "How about Beliya Zŭb?" he asked softly, his hands now on my thighs as he gently massaged them.

"Okay, okay," I heard Jason say from somewhere behind me, but I was still paying attention to Viktor, "now that that surprise is out of the way...I've got some news!"

I looked over at him, smiling. "What's that mean?" He'd been going back into his way of speaking a lot. Maybe that had been where he'd been the past few times he'd left he school, back to Bulgaria?

"White Fang, my loff." My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I heard him say that. All I wanted to do was kiss the heck out of him!

"Now, I know that this is kind of sudden, but..."

"I love it." Now…how to tell him that I loved him? Subtly, alone, or with him here? Or was the man supposed to say it? I had no clue! I'd never known what love had been, but I couldn't be here without him, I couldn't be anywhere without him. So I gently turned my face up, to look at him, and I gave him the softest kiss possible. "I love you."

"I'm gettin' married! I'm gonna be a dad!"

Your mouth is touching the floor because of that last statement, yes? Haha! Happy Memorial Day!(:

"W-with this ring, I thee wed." She was now crying, tears running down her peach-colored cheeks. I'd never seen something more beautiful as she slid the intricate gold band onto my brother's finger.

I was crying too. Viktor looked nervous and anxious, apparently trying to figure out why I was crying. I just held hand to the point that his fingers were probably broken. "You may now kiss your bride," the priest was saying, and I felt Viktor try to soothe me. Evangeline and my brother kissed very, very passionately, and I laughed past the tears flowing from my eyes. I about stood up, ready to hoot at my brother, but Viktor held me down.

He leaned over and gently kissed the corner of my lips. I looked into his brown eyes, taking a deep breath at the emotions that I saw there, and I felt that strange emotion in my heart that always happened whenever he was around, only this time it was stronger. "Leahn," he said softly in my ear, as everyone was standing up, clapping, going ecstatic as the bride and groom ran down the isle. The world stood still, our own little bubble slowing down, becoming quiet. And then he asked it.

"Vill you marry me?"

I want 37 to 40 reviews before I post the next chapter!