She smiles at Holly and pulls the young woman into a hug, "Velcome, Holly, to our home."
"Thank you, Mrs. Krum, I'm so happy to be here," Holly said as she hugs the woman back.
"Please, Holly, call me Anna."
"Thank you, Anna."
Anna greets Remus, Hermione, and Aleksandur. She led them all into the house where Viktor's family is waiting for them. Viktor's grandparents are standing in the living room, and Viktor's siblings come running down the stairs to greet Holly and Viktor. Viktor smiles at his younger siblings and hugs them when they reach him.
"Viktor ve are so glad you are home," Yoseph said to his older brother.
Viktor ruffles his little brother's hair. Yoseph huffs and pushes Viktor's hand away and smooths out his hair. Viktor then picks up his little sister, Sofeja and kisses her cheek, she giggles and kisses him back.
"Is this your girlfriend, Viktor?" Sofeja asked.
"Da, Sofeja, this is Holly Potter. Holly, this is is my little sister, Sofeja, and my brother Yoseph."
Holly smiles at the children, "It's nice to meet both of you," Holly said as she offers her hand to Yoseph.
Yoseph takes her hand and kisses her knuckles, "It's nice to meet you, Holly, you are beautiful," He told her.
Holly blushes, Sofeja giggles, and Viktor rolls his eyes. Viktor then introduces them to Hermione and Remus. Yoseph does the same thing to Hermione and shakes Remus' hand. After that, they all go into the living room to meet Viktor's grandparents.
"And these are my paternal grandparents, Iordan and Anastasiya Krum."
Immediately, Viktor's grandmother brought Holly into a hug and kissed her on the cheek, "Khubavo e da se zapoznaem, Kholi,(It's nice to meet you, Holly.)" Anastasiya said in Bulgarian.
"Khubavo e da se zapoznaem I s vas, gospozho Krum (It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Krum.)" Holly answered.
Everyone looked at Holly surprised except for Hermione, "Luff, when did you learn Bulgarian," Viktor asked.
Holly blushed, "Hermione and I have been learning to speak Bulgarian all summer. Hermione is better at it, of course."
Hermione blushed, "No, I'm not, Holly. We're the same."
"I think it is vonderful thot the two of you learned to speak our language," Aleksandur said.
"Not very well, I'm afraid, at least not yet," Hermione replies.
"Nevertheless, Ve appreciate the effort," Anna said and hugs Holly.
Remus smiled proudly at the girls.
"Now, let me show you to your room, Holly," Anna said to the redhead.
Anna wrapped her arm around Holly's waist and led her upstairs while Viktor followed behind carrying Holly's trunk. Anna led Holly into a room next to Sofeja and down the hall from Viktor's room. Anna opened the door to Holly's bedroom, and Holly gasped. It was a beautiful Victorian-style bedroom with a four-post bed and crystal chandeliers. She walked into the bedroom and went over to the french door when Holly opened them she had a view of the beautiful mountains.
Holly turned around and smiled at Anna, "This room is beautiful."
"I am glad you like it, Holly, I had it done especially for you."
"Oh, Anna, you didn't have to go through the trouble."
"It vas no trouble at all, only a vave of a vand," Anna said with a giggle.
Remus walked into the bedroom and whistled, "This is beautiful, thank you, Anna, for doing this for my little girl."
"You are velcome, Remus; I enjoy decorating."
Remus walked over to Holly and hugged her, "Well, now that you're all settled, I think I should head over with Hermione and Aleksandur to get her settled in as well."
"Okay, Remus," Holly said as she hugged her Dad.
"Have a nice summer, Holly, and Sirius, and I will see you on the platform before you head off to Hogwarts."
"Okay, give my love to Sirius and Harry for me."
"I will, Love." Remus kissed Holly's forehead, then he said his goodbyes to the Krum family and followed Aleksandur and Hermione downstairs so that they could apparate to Aleksandur's house.
After Remus left Anna, Viktor and Sofeja left Holly's room so that she could unpack and get settled in. Holly took her clothes out of her trunk and put them away in the draws, then took her toiletries to her bathroom and put them away. Once she was settled, Holly made her way downstairs, where she could hear a lot of voices. Holly peeked into the living and saw that it was full of people. Viktor was sitting among them. He looked up and smiled when he saw Holly. Holly's heart skipped a beat at seeing Viktor's smile.
Viktor stood up and made his way over to Holly, he leaned down and kissed her cheek, "Viktor what's going on, who are all these people?"
"This is the rest of my family; they all want to meet you. And since I missed your birthday yesterday, ve are having a birthday party for you," Viktor said with a smile.
"Oh, Viktor, you don't have to do that. I don't need another party."
"I know, malŭk gŭlŭb, (Little dove), but I vanted to make you happy. I hope you don't mind."
"No, I don't, Viktor, thank you."
"Then let me introduce you to my family."
Viktor took Holly's hand, and they walked into the parlor where Viktor's father, grandfathers, and Uncles were sitting. They all stood up when Holly walked in and introduced themselves. Holly smiled and shook everyone's hand. She sits down with Viktor and listens as they talk about Bulgaria's chance of making the Quidditch World Cup again. They did their best to speak in English to include Holly in their conversations.
After a while, Anna came into the parlor and asked Holly if she would like to join the women in the kitchen who were preparing her birthday dinner. Holly agreed, and Viktor reluctantly lets her go. When Holly walked into the kitchen with Anna, she noticed that music was playing and that the women in Viktor's family were hard at work cooking dinner. They were all greeted Holly and started talking to her, some in English, some in Bulgarian. Holly was able to catch some of what they were saying in Bulgarian and tried her best to keep up. Anna led Holly over to the table and had her sit down.
"Don't you need help?"
"Off course not, ve do not want you to cook for your birthday. I vanted to show you pictures of Viktor when he vas a baby," Anna said with a laugh.
She handed a massive photo album over to Holly, a cup of tea and a piece of Baklava. Holly happily ate the Baklava while she looked at the pictures. There were photos of Viktor first riding a kiddie broom around the house. Holly laughed when she saw a picture of Viktor covered in mud, holding a snitch in his hand when he was about five years old. There were photos of Viktor when his mother was bathing him when he was a toddler. There were pictures of him getting his wand and when he went off to Durmstrang. His first Quidditch match as a professional. Viktor had blood on his face from where a bludger had hit him and broke his nose, but he still caught the snitch. Holly winced when she saw that photo.
After a while, Viktor came into the kitchen to check on Holly. He could hear Holly and the women laughing from the living room, and Viktor started getting suspicious. When he walked in, Viktor found Holly sitting at the kitchen table looking at his baby book. His mother would point out pictures in the album, and all the women would start laughing.
Viktor groaned, "Mama, must you embarrass me by showing my girlfriend my baby pictures?"
Anna walked up to her son and pinched his cheek, "Off course, I must embarrass you, vhat fun vould it be if I did not?" Anna said with a laugh.
Holly giggled at watching Viktor turn bright red. He playfully glared at her and left the kitchen with all the women and his girlfriend laughing at him.
"Ve told you not to go in there," His father tells him.
"Who do you think they are laughing at? Vhy us, of course." Viktor's grandfather said.
A few hours later, when dinner was ready, the Krum women brought everything out to the dining room table. There was an array of dishes, some Holly recognized, some she didn't. Once everyone was seated and served some wine, including Holly, Marko stood up and gave a toast.
"Ve are gathered here this evening to velcome a very special guest into our home and to celebrate her birthday. Holly, I never thought that I vould see that day that my son vould be so happy until he met you. So, on behalf of my family and myself, I'd like to velcome you into our home. Ve hope you enjoy your summer here and vish you a happy belated birthday."
The Krum family raise their glasses to Holly and toast her. Holly gets so choked up she doesn't know what to say. Viktor smiles at her and kisses her head, "It's alright, Luff."
Holly clears her throat, "Thank you, everyone, for this birthday dinner. I appreciate all the effort that went into this, and thank you, Anna and Marko, for letting me into your home and your lives."
Everyone cheered, and they began to serve the food. Viktor made sure that Holly tried a little bit of everything. It turned out that her favorite thing was the Sarmi or stuffed vine or cabbage leaves. Holly also liked the tarator, which is a yogurt-based soup of cucumbers, garlic, dill, and sometimes walnuts that is served cold in the summer. And for dessert, Holly had a piece of banitsa, filled with apples and walnuts.
After dinner, Anna and Marko gave Holly her birthday present. The gave her a golden snitch bracelet to match the necklace that Viktor had given her. And Viktor had given Holly a pair of diamond earrings. Holly was so overcome with gratitude that she cried. Anna hugged Holly and told her that it was alright and kissed her cheek. Viktor then took Holly outside on the balcony to look at the stars until bedtime. They stood there and hugged and kissed in the moonlight.
"Did you enjoy your birthday, Holly?"
"Oh, yes, Viktor, thank you."
"Anything for you, Luff," Viktor said and kissed Holly's lips.
Holly sighed and looked into Viktor's eyes, "I love you so much, Viktor."
"I luff you too, Holly."