Viktor kissed her head, "Shh, luff, it will be alright."
Holly shook her head, "No, it won't, Viktor, Cedric is dead, and it's our fault."
"No, it isn't, Bambi. It's Wormtail's fault that Cedric is dead," Sirius said as he came towards the bed, "You and Harry can't blame yourselves for what others did."
Holly looked up at Sirius as he sat down on the other side of her. She let go of Viktor and hugged Sirius. Viktor was going to leave, but Holly's hand shot out and grabbed him, "Don't go," Holly says and pulls Viktor more onto the bed with her.
Holly sat between Viktor and Sirius and sniffled, "Where's Harry? How is he?"
"Harry was sent back to Gryffindor Tower yesterday. Madam Pomfrey said that you lost more blood than he did, and you were under the Cruciatus Curse longer." Sirius informs her.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Two days, Luff. I vos so vorried about you."
"We all were, but Viktor refused to leave your side," Sirius explains.
Holly looked at Viktor and cupped his face, "I'm sorry I worried you."
"Do not apologize, Moya Lyubov, (My Love.) you have nothing to be sorry for," Viktor said and wrapped his arm around Holly. She snuggled more into Viktor while Sirius ran his hand down her hair in a soothing manner.
After a while, Viktor noticed that Holly's breathing had evened out, and she had fallen asleep on him. Viktor was going to lay her down when Sirius stopped him, "Stay with her. I'm afraid she's going to wake up upset again, and you being here will help."
Viktor nods
"I'm going to bring you two something to eat," Sirius said and started walking away, but then he paused, "Oh, and Remus and I decided that Holly can go visit you this summer. After everything that's happened, it might be good for her to get away."
"Thank you, Mr. Black. And if you vont, Harry can come as vell."
Sirius smiled, "Thank you Viktor, I'll let him know. And call me Sirius." With that, Sirius walked out of the Hospital Wing and went to the kitchen to get them something to eat.
Eventually, Viktor fell asleep with Holly, and they woke up a few hours later. There was a tray of sandwiches and soup sitting on the table next to them. Viktor reached for the tray and put it on Holly's lap, "Come now, Luff, you must eat."
"I'm not hungry," Holly said.
"Please, Holly, you need to eat."
Holly looked up into Viktor's concerned eyes, she sighed and took a sandwich off the plate and began eating. Holly hadn't realized how hungry she was until she finished three sandwiches and a bowl of soup. Holly made sure that Viktor ate his share of the food.
When they finished eating, Viktor vanished the tray and kissed Holly's head. Holly sighed and snuggled into Viktor, "I love you, Viktor."
"I luff you too, My Holly."
Madam Pomfrey came in later with Remus to check on Holly. She ran a diagnostic and checked Holly's wound. The Pomfrey gave her one last blood replenishing potion and said that she could return to sleep in Gryffindor Tower, considering that they would be leaving Hogwarts in the morning. Remus brought Holly a change of clothes, and she went to the bathroom to shower and change. After that, Viktor and Remus walked her back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Alright, but I vill see you in the Great Hall in the morning," Viktor tells her. He gave Holly a quick kiss then headed back to his ship for some much-needed sleep.
Once Viktor was out of sight, Remus put his arm around Holly. She looked up at her godfather and smiled. Holly turned to the fat lady and gave the password. Holly and Remus went through the portrait hole and into the Common Room. The minute Harry saw his twin, he rushed to her and hugged Holly tightly.
"Holly, don't ever do that again," Harry said as he clung to his younger sister.
It turned out that at the graveyard, Voldemort was going to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry, but Holly threw herself in front of him and to the brunt of the curse. Voldemort thought it was funny that Holly would do something so stupid, so he tortured her longer and made Harry watch, then he switched between the twins.
"You would have done the same thing for me as you've been doing since we were little."
Harry held his twin closer as tears leaked out of his eyes. He pulled away, and Holly wiped away his tears, "How are you feeling, Har-Bear?"
"Me? How are you feeling?"
"I feel better physically, but…"
"Yeah I know what you mean, Remus keeps telling me it's not our fault but-"
"I know I feel the same way."
Hermione and the others were standing nearby, waiting for their turn to hug Holly, but they weren't going to interrupt the twins. When the twins let go of each other, Hermione rushed over to her best friend and hugged her tightly. She asked Holly if she was alright and if she needed anything.
Holly hugged her back and told Hermione that she was as well as could be expected. They held onto each other for a while then; Holly was passed to the rest of her friends, even Ron. By the time Holly talked to all her friends, she was feeling a little drained and decided to go to bed early. She went up to her dorm, when she sat on her bed, Archimedes nearly tackled Holly. The Arctic fox was so happy to see his mistress that he stood on her chest and licked her face until Holly was giggling.
Hermione walked in and smiled at the scene, "He's been anxious about you. Archimedes slept with Crookshanks and me."
"I'm sorry, Hermione."
"No need to apologize, Hol, I'm happy to help in some way. Are you sure you're okay, you can always talk to me, you know?"
"No, I'm not, but I don't want to talk about it right now. I appreciate your offer, but maybe later, Mione."
Hermione nodded and let Holly get some sleep. The redhead cuddled up with Archimedes and closed her eyes. With Archimedes' warm body, she felt safe enough to sleep peacefully. Holly wished it was Viktor, though. Holly felt safer in Viktor's arms, and he chases the nightmares away.
The next morning, Holly got up early so that she could start packing everything up. With a wave of her wand, all of her stuff zoomed into her trunk. She shrunk her firebolt and put it in her trunk as well; Holly made sure that her family grimoire was packed safely packed away. The Potter grimoire had been invaluable this year in helping her with rare spells that helped her with the Tri-Wizard Tournament along with Luna and Ginny's assistance. The Potter grimoire was passed down from the female down the Potter line. It was required that eventually, each woman would add to the grimoire, before passing it along to their daughter. It was Holly's most prized possession from her mother.
Once Holly was packed, she went to the bathroom to shower and change. Then she waited for the others to wake up. Archimedes and Crookshanks had already left to go hunting one last time before they left. A little while, the girls started to stir, and Hermione was the first one up. She looked at Holly's bed, finding her best friend sitting on her bed reading.
"How long have you been awake?"
"A while."
"What time is it?"
"6:00"
"Why are you up so early?"
"I need to make sure everything was packed, and I want to go to the Great Hall."
Hermione looked at Holly and nodded; she wanted to spend as much time with Viktor before his ship left. Hermione felt the same way about Aleksandur. But she would see him sooner. Once Aleksandur got back to Bulgaria, he would take a portkey and come right back so that Hermione could introduce him to her parents. From there, he would ask them if she could visit him in Bulgaria. If they said yes, then Hermione would see him later in the summer.
Hermione quickly took a shower and changed, then packed her trunk. Once she was ready, she and Holly went down to the Great Hall. The girls were surprised to see so many people were up so early. Holly and Hermione guessed they weren't the only ones who wanted this term to end. As they walked into the Great Hall, Holly and Hermione heard their names being called. They turned around and saw that Viktor and Aleksandur were already there and were making their way towards them.
Viktor hugged and kissed Holly, "I had a feeling you vould be up early."
"You were right, Love, I went to bed early, and I couldn't sleep anymore. And I was anxious to see you again."
"So vos I. I had trouble sleeping last night, I vos so vorried about you."
"I'm alright, Viktor," Holly said.
Viktor looked into Holly's emerald eyes, "Are you sure, Luff?"
Holly nodded then buried her head in Viktor's chest. He wrapped his arms around Holly then kissed her head, "Come on, Luff, you need to eat."
The two couples went into the Great Hall. As soon as they entered, all the chatter stopped, and they stared at Holly. Viktor, Aleksandur, and Hermione closed in around Holly and glared at anyone that stared at Holly. Viktor and Aleksandur intimidated more people than Hermione. When they got the Gryffindor table, they closed ranks around Holly.
Viktor began to serve Holly a little bit of food, knowing she couldn't handle a lot right now. Eventually, the students started talking amongst themselves and let Holly eat in peace. When Harry came in, the same thing happened to him that happened to Holly earlier. Ron, Ginny, Neville, and the twins closed ranks around Harry and ushered him towards his sister. He sat across from her and Viktor.
"Having a good morning," Harry asked.
"As good as can be expected. You?"
"Same as you."
Holly nodded.
As soon as the Great Hall was filled and people had eaten, Dumbledore stood up to address the students, "Today we acknowledge a terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard-working, intricately fair-minded. And most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend. I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Lord Voldemort murdered Cedric Diggory. The ministry of magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so, I think it would be an insult to his memory. Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, reminds us that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events, the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain; you remember that. And we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end."
Everyone sat in solemn silence, Viktor was holding Holly as tears ran down her face. She looked over at the Ravenclaw table and saw that Cho looked worse that Holly did. Dumbledore dismissed everyone, and they all got up silently and left the Great Hall to go outside to bit the delegations goodbye.
The students of Beauxbaton, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts, began saying their goodbyes to one another. Promises were made to keep in touch. Fleur and Gabrielle came up to Ron and Harry to thank them once again for saving Gabrielle's life. Standing apart from alone the commotion were Holly and Viktor. They were locked in an embrace, holding each other lightly. Holly had her head on Viktor's chest with her eyes closed, listening to his heart.
"I spoke vith your parents, and they agreed to let me pick you up the day after your birthday. And ve vill spend the next month together in Sophia. I vish I could spend all summer vith you, but Quidditch practice starts as soon as I get home. The first month is intense training all day long."
"Oh, Viktor, if this is going to interfere with your Quidditch, maybe I shouldn't come."
"No, no, Luff, after that, ve practice three times a veek, and I vould like you to come to watch. It's only for a few hours. Then ve vill have the rest of the time together."
"That sounds like fun. Then I'll see you on August first. In the meantime seeing a lot of Hedwig."
"I vill look forvard to each of your letters."
Viktor heard the Deputy headmaster call for the student to get on the boat. Viktor sighed, "I must go now, luff."
Holly whined, "I don't want to let you go."
"I do not want to go. But ve vill see each other soon enough."
Holly looked up at Viktor, "I love you."
He smiled down at her, "I luff you too." Then Viktor kissed her.
Viktor slowly pulled away, "I must go." He whispered.
A tear ran down Holly's cheek, Viktor wiped it away with his thumb. He gave her one last kiss and left.
While this was going on, Hermione and Aleksandur were also saying goodbye. He smiled down at Hermione, who was wrapped in his arms. "I vill see you in a couple of days, Mione, to meet your parents. If they say yes, then I vill come to pick you up in August, and ve will spend three veeks together. At least I hope your parent vill agree to that."
"I hope so too, Alek, I can't wait to see Sophia. I think it will help that Holly will be there as well. We can spend a little time with them as well. I can't wait for you to meet my parents. I wrote them all about you."
"I cannot vait either."
Aleksandur heard them call for the Durmstrang students, "I must go, Mione."
"Okay."
Aleksandur leaned down and kissed Hermione. They both sighed, and Hermione pulled away first. "You better go, I don't want you to get in trouble."
Aleksandur's laughed, "Vhot can they do, I graduate this year. But I do need to go; I am sure Viktor is upset for leaving Holly."
Hermione giggled, Aleksandur kissed Hermione one last time and left. Once he was out of sight, Hermione went looking for Holly so that they could join up with the boys and watch the delegates leave. They find the boys standing on a balcony overlooking the crowd. They watch as the Beauxbaton carriage takes to the air, and people wave goodbye. Turning towards the lake, The quartet watch as the Durmstrang ship sinks beneath the waves and disappears. Holly sighs, Harry puts his arm around his sister and kisses her temple, "Don't worry, Holly, you're going to be spending all summer with Viktor."
"I know, but it won't be the same as seeing him every day, right, Mione?"
"Yes, it's going to be strange not seeing Aleksandur every day as well. But I'll see him in a couple of days."
"Why is that?" Harry asks.
"He's coming over to ask my parents if I can spend three weeks in Bulgaria with him. If my parents say yes, I'll be going the same time Holly goes."
"That's great! I hope your parents permit you," Holly says.
"I hope so too."
While the girls are talking, Ron is scowling at Hermione behind her back. Harry looks at his friend, concerned. Harry knew that Ron had liked Hermione since the second year, but he never acted on it. Harry guessed Ron missed his chance.
Holly looked at her brother; she knew that he was going to have a hard time this summer and wanted to help him in some way. Maybe he should go with her to Bulgaria, "Harry, why don't you come with me to Bulgaria? Viktor said it wouldn't be a problem."
"I'll think about it, Holly."
"Okay."
Once the ship was out of sight, Holly, Harry, Hermione, and Ron returned to Gryffindor Tower so that they could get their familiars. Archimedes and Crookshanks readily got into their carriers while Hedwig flew into the window and got into her cage. When everyone was ready, they left; the house-elve had already taken their trunks.
And so they boarded the Hogwarts Express and headed back to London ending their fourth year. In one way, it was terrible because of the Tournament, but if it hadn't have happened, Holly never would have met Viktor. So maybe it wasn't such a bad year after all.