Once they got back to Hogwarts, Hermione was in an unusually good mood. Mood that Ginny Weasley thought it was appropriate to kill before she could even eat her breakfast, while she and Draco were walking past the "good" section of the table, formed by Ginny, Luna, Neville, Seamus and Luna.

"What's that, Granger, killing innocent people puts in you in a good mood?" She asked.

"It usually does," she teased, "but I have no idea what you're talking about."

Draco put a hand on her lower back and she could hear the deafening silence around them.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. You killed Hannah!"

No, she wanted to say. She didn't kill anyone, especially Hannah Abbot – Hufflepuff.

"I don't owe you an explanation, Weasley. We're at wat, people die. Deal with it," she said instead, and walked to the seats Daphne had saved them.

"Hermione, did you?" Daphne whispered.

"No," she said, maybe a little too loud. "I didn't even know she was dead."

Which was unusual, at best. Usually, all the "important" prisoners would make it to Malfoy Manor, and there was no way she could miss something like that.

None of them mentioned the Ginny incident or the Order for about two weeks and even then, Hermione was kind of forced to think about it. She still saw Neville and the others glaring at her in the hallways, but she didn't think they would go that far…

…Calling him at Hogwarts!

She learned about what they did on a Saturday afternoon, while she was waiting for Daphne to go to Hogsmeade together in the Clock Tower Courtyard, after having left her room later than she would normally do, fully aware of her friend's – nonexistent – concept of punctuality.

Hermione only had to wait ten minutes for Daphne to arrive. When she did, she came up to her running and apologizing, repeating it was Theo's fault, which Hermione doubted – her boyfriend, unlike her, had never left her waiting. When Daphne suddenly stopped talking, staring at something over Hermione's shoulder like she had just seen the Dark Lord himself, Hermione was forced to turn around, finding a tall, muscular body. As she raised her eyes, Viktor Krum was staring at her, a smile on his lips.

"Viktor! What are you doing here?" Hermione smiled, quite surprised, and hugged him. She felt him all around her in what lasted more than a normal hug.

Then he turned towards her friend, without answering, "You Daphne, right?" She nodded. "You mind leave us alone?" The witch nodded again, staring at him adoringly, and disappeared in the hallway she had just came from.

"Let's go for a walk?" She simply asked, deciding not to speak out her doubts, for now. She was happy to see him, of course, but he was a long way from Bulgaria, and it was starting to get fishy. Plus, maybe he would tell her himself and she wouldn't be the bad person who couldn't just accept a visit from an old friend without thinking there was some plot behind it.

So she locked her arm with his and started walking towards Hogsmeade, trying to ignore all the stares they were getting from people that – like her – couldn't understand why an international Quidditch star that lived several countries away, was there with her at Hogwarts.

"How is things going? Hogwarts look different," he asked and she couldn't help but smile.

"It is different." They kept talking until they got to the Three Broomsticks', where people eyed them pretty much tirelessly, but Viktor still hadn't said why he was there.

After having ordered two Butterbeers she murmured a quick Muffliato and took her cloak off, rolling up her sleeves because of their position near a fireplace, effectively exposing her mark. She didn't even notice, being used to it as she was, and when she looked at Viktor she found he was staring at it.

"You has mark like Karkaroff," Viktor simply stated. Hermione prayed he didn't know its meaning and pulled her sleeves back down, but she knew everyone in the Wizarding World, no matter how far from the action they were, had heard the story at least one.

She just nodded and thanked Madam Rosmerta for their drinks when she served them.

"What do it means?" He didn't even look at his Butterbeer while she was sipping hers, trying to get a hold of herself.

"It means a lot has happened, Viktor. It's complicated." She looked at her hands and cleared her throat.

"You explain?"

"Did they send you?" She asked instead.

"Who?"

"Did the Order send you, Viktor?" He just stared at her, without hinting at a concrete answer. So was that it, silence means consent.

Hermione lightly shook her head in disbelief and put her cloak back on. Of course the bloody Order of the Phoenix would call him at Hogwarts. Of course they would just endanger someone innocent for the sake of their stupid means. Viktor Krum was their last, desperate chance.

She was about to get up and leave, but he took her hand instead, stopping her. "Me is here because Order asked, it's true. But you is not like this, Hermione." He was pale, downright upset.

Hermione sighed. "You people need to stop telling me who I am, Viktor. I am whoever I want to be, whether you like it or not, and I hope you're aware that the only reason I haven't hexed you yet is because I've missed you, or you would be unconscious by now," she lightly smiled so it wouldn't sound like a threat and he did the same.

"I have everything under control and you guys need to start minding your own business. This is dangerous, not only for me, but for you too. Death Eaters are used to the Order getting their way, but you're not a blood traitor and I would like it to stay this way." She sighed and saw him nod and look away from her. Men. Can't tell them what to do, or they will pout their feelings away and brag about how you stepped on their ego. "I'm serious, Viktor. They could kill you for getting into this mess and I need to know you're safe."

"I will stay out of it," he promised and that made her feel better. She would not lose yet another friend. "You come see me at Quidditch? Next month is friendly England against Bulgaria." Viktor looked at her, hopeful, and Hermione couldn't but smile and promise she would be there, confident Snape would let her go.

Once she was back in Hogwarts, after walking Viktor out of Hogsmeade so he could Disapparate, Hermione was glad to notice she was just in time for lunch and Daphne had saved her a seat next to her. She didn't even get to sit, though, before Draco felt he needed to step in in what would have been a Daphne-Greengrass-only monologue about how she should have told her Viktor Krum was coming to Hogwarts.

"What was that?"

Hermione stared at him for a second, then turned towards Daphne and sat down.

"Ignore him," she said, sighing dramatically. "How did it go?"

"Good, I think. How was it supposed to go?" Hermione took off her cloak and scarf and put them next to her on the bench, and nodded back at Theo with a smile.

"Well, I mean, he's Viktor Krum. Any details?" She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Draco cleared his throat, "I'm here, Daph. Thanks for the concern."

"And why should I care?" She didn't even wait for an answer and attacked her, asking why he wanted to be alone with her.

Hermione was perfectly aware she couldn't tell them the truth, but didn't want to lie either, so she decided that omitting parts of the real story was a good compromise. "He just wanted to invite me to his match next month and give me the tickets."

"So it's a date?" She asked, excited, just as Draco asked what match she was talking about.

"England-Bulgaria and, no, I am pretty sure it's not a date."

"Pretty sure?" Daphne scoffed. "Hermione, I saw the way he hugged you. There is no way in hell he just wants to be friends."

"I'm sure, alright? And I don't know what you're talking about, Viktor and I are just friends."

She looked away and poured herself some pumpkin juice, knowing damn well that even that wasn't the full story either.

Daphne raised a brow at her. "You and Draco are just friends too."

Once lunch was over, Hermione had every intention of going back into the common room and finish her homework, but that didn't really last much, since Draco decided they needed to talk.

"Draco, I said no. I need to finish my homework, stop being a child," Hermione pulled her hand out of his grip.

"I am not," he protested, although they both knew he was.

"We can talk about that later as well, leave me alone."

"It's Saturday, you have two whole days to study, come on," he complained, almost whining.

Hermione forced herself to put her wand down, as she was exercising a Transfiguration spell, before she did something impulsive. "Fine. What?"

"You and Krum, that's what."

"I hope you're joking," she scowled at him and prayed for her mental health he really was.

"I'm not joking. He comes here, out of the blue, and demands you go to his stupid game and go out with him, who does he think he is?" When she noticed his voice had got loud enough for nearby people to hear, she scowled and pulled him into her room, murmuring a spell so her books would follow them. She was about to throw him into the room just to make him shut up, while he was still rambling something about Viktor.

"Who do you think you are? You're making a scene for nothing, just because a friend passed by and we spent some time together. Yes, we went to Hogsmeade and yes, we stopped by the Three Broomsticks' and yes, Draco, I will go to his game because I can and I want to go. I don't care if this doesn't sit well with your oh-so-precious ego. Have I made myself clear?" Hermione was outraged. Maybe Viktor didn't exactly come to Hogwarts to have a Butterbeer with her like the old times, but that wasn't the point. She would not wave at one of the few friends she had left goodbye because Draco Malfoy said so.

"He doesn't look at you as a friend and you know it," Draco said, slowly and more calm now.

Of course she knew, but that didn't mean she would admit it to him.

"Yes, he does. We're friends and I don't care what you have to say about it, end of the discussion."

She could clearly see he wasn't okay with her decision, but she refused to cut Viktor out of her life because of Draco's jealousy, or whatever that scene was all about.

They just glared at each other for a few seconds, each trying to get the other to come to the conclusion that they were right. Then he just turned around and slammed the door on his way out.