XXII – Summer and Things Are Happening

Viktor held Hermione's hand as they made their way to the stadium to meet the team.

Hooting and hollering was becoming more present the closer they got to the changing room.

Viktor shouted something and opened the door.

"Mia, these are my teammates." The men all waved at her and she waved bashfully back.

"So, you are the British girl who has bewitched our Viktor here?" A man with a thick accent drawled in English.

"I guess so." Hermione replied with her chin raised.

"I like her." The man declared in Bulgarian.

Viktor beamed as he kept Hermione close to his body.

Afterwards, Viktor helped Hermione get back to her home after they had a good time acquainting themselves with each other, his teammates and his Mia. He still had a smile on his face when he went to the American portkey office the next day.

"Bulgaria?" The attendant asked, recognizing the famous Seeker.

"Please." He agreed, nodding his head and she motioned to a pedestal where he grabbed the portkey and felt the familiar feeling of being whisked away and he then, after getting his bearings, apparated to his family house, where he entered before making his way to his bedroom and hitting the pillow and getting some major sleep.

He was stopped by his mother entering the entryway, near the stairs. Her arms were crossed and she was furious.

His father came out of his office when he heard the front door close and was alerted via the wards that someone arrived.

"What the hell is this?" She hissed as she held up the local paper. The headline read: Krum New Beau – English Muggleborn Witch. It showed a picture of Krum holding Hermione's hand, someone must have taken a picture as he was introducing Hermione to his teammates.

"Anastasiya." His father scolded.

"No, Nikolai! I want to know if my son has been cavorting with a mudblood!" She bellowed the last word.

Viktor's lip curled and Nikolai closed his eyes, massaging his head. He knew that this would eventually happen. He loved his wife but she spent way too much time envisioning the perfect woman for Viktor, she wasn't going to like any person, not thinking they were good enough for Viktor. But Nikolai knew that Viktor loved this English girl and she would someday be his daughter-in-law and he was sure that she was a lovely girl but his wife would not accept her.

"Do not call her that." Viktor threatened.

"Her blood is muddy from those Muggles!" She shouted, grabbing a vase nearby and throwing it at the wall, glass shattering and her anger was still throbbing in her.

"She isn't the dirty one." Viktor replied, the fire in his eyes matching his mothers. She didn't understand why he kept talking back to her – he was always such an obedient boy.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, advancing on him.

"Enough." Nikolai declared. Viktor obeyed his father, while his wife did not.

"Did you hear what he said?" She demanded to him.

"I heard what both of you said. Viktor, your mother loves you, she is just letting her prejudice get in the way." Viktor didn't say anything.

"I am not prejudiced! They're lower than us!"

"That's being prejudiced, Anastasiya." Nikolai levelled a stare on her.

"I can't believe you!" She cried and went to smack her husband across the face. He caught her wrist.

"Viktor, we shall talk tomorrow, please retire to your bedroom." Viktor immediately went to his room. He paced the room, burning off the energy from the anger he felt at his mother. He immediately wrote a letter to Hermione, feeling much better afterwards, although he wasn't sure if he would send it.

"Nikolai!" She shouted, trying to get him to release her so she could go after her son and shake some sense into him.

"No." He told her. "You are being horrendous. I won't let you ruin my relationship with Viktor also." He told her seriously.

"You cannot be serious! You need to tell him to leave her!" She cried.

"I will do no such thing." He informed her.

"Well then, I will!" She went to march past him, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, not pressing hard.

"You will not."

"I can't sit here and do nothing while your son ruins his reputation with that mudblood. Probably spreading her legs and being whorish." She muttered hatefully.

"Anastasiya. You do not even know this girl. Viktor cares for her and we shall support him." He told her.

"I will certainly not do that." She scoffed.

"Then I will no longer support you." Anastasiya's eyes snapped to his.

"What?" She whispered, taking a step back.

"If you are asking me to choose between you and my beloved son, I will choose him. We were arranged in marriage, it wasn't like I was in love with you and we wed. I wanted Viktor to have a chance to fall in love like I never did." His eyes hardened. "And I will be damned if I let you ruin that chance for him." She stepped back once more.

"What will my friends say? Our acquaintances?" She demanded.

"I never cared what they think. You always did so I don't really care. I'll call my lawyers tomorrow. I would suggest packing what you have. You can have the small cottage in town for your estate. I'll be keeping this." He turned and left the speechless woman standing there, gaping like a fish.

Nikolai called a house elf.

"Anastasiya is no longer your mistress, ensure she doesn't steal anything."

"Ana will make sure." The elf replied, glad the callous woman was gone.

OoOoOoOo

Viktor stood outside his father's office the next morning, as bidden to do by his father.

"Viktor." Nikolai opened the door and ushered him in.

"Father."

"Sit." Viktor sat in front of his father's desk. "What is this girl's name?"

"Hermione Granger." Viktor pronounced it slowly as to not butcher the name.

"How old is she?"

"She's fifteen." Viktor replied.

"And nothing irresponsible has happened, correct?"

"No. I am waiting to court her when she is sixteen. Nothing happened between us, physically."

"Good, I can't wait until you can introduce us." Viktor stared in shock. Nikolai laughed heartily. "I can't wait to meet the girl that has betwitched my Viktor."

Viktor smiled and started telling his father all about his beloved Mia.

OoOoOoOo

Harry hit the ground, grunting in pain as he struggled to get back up. He flipped his hair back as he raised up on his arms, rising to his feet.

Sirius handed him his wand.

"Again." He stated. Harry groaned and got to his feet and they started duelling again.

Soon enough, he went flying and summoned some Parselmagic and fought back.

"Good." Sirius called back as he battled the snake magic.

Eventually, Sirius broke through and Harry went flying back again and groaned as he hit the ground.

"Okay, that's enough for now. We will try again in two days." Sirius helped Harry up.

"Ugh." Harry grunted as he got up again. "How much longer?" He whined petulantly.

"Until I think you're ready. Not a second before." Sirius told him seriously as he thumped him on the back.

Sirius left the room and the portrait of Salazar was there, with Hermione sitting in a chair next to the portrait, with a book in her hands, flicking a page.

"How'd he do?" Hermione asked without lifting her eyes from the page.

"He's getting better." Sirius admitted.

"He's a natural with Parselmagic." Salazar informed Sirius. "You should focus on that."

"Let's talk." Sirius told the painting.

OoOoOoOo

Draco sighed as his mother looked upon him with such sorrow for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Mother, I have to go increase the security at Malfoy Manor so Lucius cannot get in." He tried not to whine but he was relatively unsuccessful.

"Yes, yes, dear." Narcissa remarked but smoothed his hair down. He sighed.

"Mum." He grabbed her hands and kissed them. "I'll be alright." He soothed. She put her hand on his cheek.

"I love you, Dragon." She whispered, afraid that she wouldn't see him again.

"I love you too, Mum." The other kids hugged and kissed Narcissa, making her feel emotional about the departure but she wasn't sure she could raise her wand against her ex-husband and brother-in-law. She was terrified. For good reason. She wasn't as versed in duelling being a housewife for eighteen years, her duelling skills were rusty. Lucius didn't care enough to keep her skills up to date.

"Okay." She whispered, not bearing to keep them here for one more second.

Draco flooed to the Manor and walked inside with his siblings and they were all amazed by the transformation of the Manor inside – it was no longer like a mauseoleum – it was a modern, Muggle influenced house. Draco smiled as he looked around – it was just as he wanted – just as he envisioned.

It was perfect.

He let his siblings explore their wings and he went to the main office, where the ward stone was. He let his magic sink into it, letting the magic know he was the Lord of this house and he made sure the wards were airtight, they were pretty airtight – Lucius was removed by there was a big open space for Tom Riddle's magical signature and Draco removed that right away along with anyone outside of his immediate family and Sirius.

No one else was permitted in the wards. They were on high alert.

OoOoOoOo

Lucius watched the muggle home that they were staked at.

It was time.

He signalled to the other Death Eaters and they advanced on Number Four Privet Drive.

They burst the door open, making a woman scream in fright, advancing further on the muggle woman, making her last out and throw kitchen objects at her and then they eventually stunned her.

"Hey! Let go of my Petunia!" A burly man advanced upon them hearing his wife's scream.

"Is there anyone else in the house?" Vernon turned white as he realized the gravity of the situation. He prayed to every god that Dudley stayed quiet.

"No." He whimpered.

"Avada Kevadra!" Rabastan instantly killed him.

Dudley covered his cries– this is what Harry was facing when he was at school – why would he want to return?

"Come on, let's bring her to him." He levitated her. "What's the date of that thing again?" He asked Lucius.

Lucius shrugged and not seeing any witnesses.

"We attack on Halloween." He answered. "Hogwarts will fall."

Dudley laid there and cried silently, hearing little pops and he looked around as the police were called as his front door was blown off and they would find a dead body and no evidence of murder.

What the bloody hell was he going to do?

What was that lady who always watched Harry? Didn't his mum say that she was odd? Was that code for magical?

He had to warn Harry.

He didn't want to think about his mother – she would probably be dead soon. He cried harder as he walked past his parents door – what parents anymore. He sat on the step and hypervenilated on the horror he just saw.

He walked to Mrs. Figg and knocked on the door.

She opened the door and saw Dudley looking white as a sheet.

"Dudley? What happened?" She demanded.

"Are you magical?" He asked, straight to the point.

"Well, not as such. I have just enough magic to see things but not enough to use magic." She tried a basic explanation.

"I need to talk to Harry." He told her.

"I can get in touch with his guardian."

"Please." He was ushered to a seat and he sank into it.

OoOoOoOo

Neville was loving his vacation with Sebastian – he really was.

He was going to muggle parks and visiting the ocean and it never rained in California. It was amazing.

So many plants flourished in California and he was just getting started on exploring the different strands of the plants in America.

Sebastian and Neville were working on the cure for his parents, furiously. They have the mice and were testing it on them and it was almost there. They had inspections happening all the time. They were doing things by the books so the process wouldn't get paused in any way.

For once, he was flying high.

He couldn't wait to tell his friends about all the things he did during his summer.

OoOoOoOo

Petunia cried helplessly as a blonde man with a manic look in his eyes took a lot of her blood and threw it into the cauldron, mixed with a lot of other things that he mumbled under his breath about.

She tried to free herself from the binds even if she wouldn't go very far if she escaped, her ankle was sprained and they didn't fix it for her.

A man rose from the cauldron, his skin flapping around uncontrollably, almost if he had too much skin for his body.

"Lucius! You did something wrong."

"It's the muggle's fault!" He spun and Petunia was suddenly extremely scared and she was dead before her next thought.

"I killed her, Master!" He cried victoriously.

"Fool! What if we needed her?" Lord Voldemort spun and Lucius sighed – his master did not look how he used to look.

"Get Severus to help me." He demanded.

"Severus is lost to us." Lucius replied.

"Get Amycus Carrow then." He was the next best potions master.

"Yes, milord." Lucius bowed and saw to his demands.

"Fools." Voldemort scoffed under his breath. "I'm surrounded by them."

OoOoOoOo

Harry couldn't believe that Dudley was in front of him and helping him no less.

"Halloween?" He exhaled. He rubbed his head. "Why is it always Halloween?" He muttered to himself. He caught his cousin's eye. "I'm sorry about your parents, Dudley."

"I'm sorry some psycho is after you." Dudley's voice was scratchy from all the sobbing he had done.

"I wish he would just have never come after my family." Harry frowned sadly, feeling glum.

"We need to make plans." Salazar piped up. "We have less time than we thought."

Harry sat there thinking for a little while, thinking of his next step.

"I have an idea." Harry stated.

OoOoOoOo

Charlie was going through the owl post when he saw a letter to him from Harry and a letter to Opal.

He opened the letter -

Charlie,

Hello. This is Harry, which you could obviously tell from the envelope but I have a message for Opal – it is the howler in the second envelope. Things are happening in England and I think we may need some back up. Opal offered her bondmate – Onyx. Please play this message for her.

Best,

Harry.

Charlie looked at the envelope that carried the howler. He shrugged, what could it hurt?

"Opal!" He neared the Horntail enclosure. Opal awoke slowly and slowly got to her feet. "I have a message from Harry for you." Opal stretched and made her way closer.

Charlie opened the envelope and Harry's voice in the hissing tenor came out.

Opal stared into the air and eventually roared in rage. Her bondmate came stomping out and answered her roar, fire breathing into the air.

Charlie honestly wished he knew what was happening.

Here is Chapter 22! Honestly been feeling super depressed and sad these last two weeks and I'm trying to get through it. But this story has 100 followers! OMG just hit 100! Thank you to StorSpeaker for being lucky #100!

See you later, guys. This story will be complete as of Friday, December 20, 2019 and Harry's story will be posted in the same story so you don't need to go searching for it. It will all be included in this one story. The stories will be once a week maybe? If I finish Neville's and move onto Hermione and Draco.