A/N: OK , some conflict, some comedy.In Part 25, yes the Gred and Forge was intentional. I have a hard time calling them anything else. Maybe not as vicious as some of you would like, but that doesn't seem to be part of my repetoire. Fun and fluff from Circe, always.
Summer Part 26
When the buzzer at the front door rang, Hermione jumped slightly, and began to move away from Harry. He pulled her close again and whispered "Only a couple of days. And try to laugh."
She looked at him closely, and said, "I hope we are laughing in a couple of days. We'd better go meet them, we know Viktor most."
'Yeah,' thought Harry. He knew enough to know he didn't trust the guy. Even though Viktor had said he was glad to see Karkaroff gone, it was going to take more than words to make Harry trust Viktor. But Hermione's kisses and her words about the closeness with him and Ron lifted Harrry's spirits so that he felt he could face even Voldemort. This was a pretty amazing feeling.
Following Hermione out of the room, they met Chris and Ivy in the hall. "Ready?" asked Chris, looking very much the way Harry felt. He saw Ivy give Hermione a searching look, and Hermione smiled back, a smile that made Harry's heart leap. He knew Hermione was smiling in that way because of their talk, and he felt flooded with contentment.The feeling was even stronger when Ivy smiled at him warmly and nodded.
The front door was opened and the Grangers welcomed the Krum family into the house. Harry stood back a bit, but he saw Viktor's eyes darken when they saw him. Something in that look made him wish he had his wand in his pocket. Fortunately Ivy stepped over beside them at that moment.
"Viktor I believe you know Harry, but your family-Mr. and Mrs. Krum, this is Harry Potter, Hermione's friend and the son of my closest friend, in happier days. Harry is visiting us, and has been helping out with our business this summer."
"Vell, Harry ve haff heard a great deal about you." said Mr.Krum. "Ve vere quite disappointed that Viktor did not come avay the Trivizard champion. Our congratulations."
" Thanks" replied Harry. "I didn't, and still don't feel like much of a champion. The um, circumstances were not exactly what anyone expected."
"Exactly vot I haff been telling Viktor," said Mr. Krum enthuiastically, and he saw Mrs. Krum nodding in the background. "Possibly a re -match might be arranged."
"No!" said Ivy sharply. Harry had never heard her speak in that tone, but he saw her looking at Mr. Krum in a very no - nonsense way. "It was decided after the Tournament that nothing would change. If you feel disappointed, think of the Diggorys. Would you care to change places with them?"
There was a long silence, then Chris cleared his throat," So, you folks must be fairly exhausted. Shall we go in and have a cup of tea? Or perhaps a bit of something stronger? "
The awkward moment passed, and the talk changed to more general subjects , such as the trip over. ( the Krum's had traveled by Portkey, and Mrs Krum was still not happy with the shaking up she had received).
"It vas horrible!" she said. "In our country ve do not use such rough vays. I haff told my husband , ve shall return by floo powder. It can be obtained here?"
'She thinks we're a bunch of idiots,' thought Harry. He was happy to see Viktor looking quite embarrased, and Hermione making no effort to engage him in conversation.
They went into the Grangers' living room, and introductions were made. The conversation was now less awkward, since the subject of Quidditch was one all the group seemed interested in.
Ginny sat by Mrs. Krum, asking her questions about Bulgaria, and Mrs. Weasley was being sure she inserted a question about how warm the house was and whether they had recently had any visitors from England.
Harry saw Ivy bite her lip to keep back a laugh, and Hermione seemed to have been robbed of the power of speech. Mrs. Krum appeared to be noticing this too, since she suddenly looked hard at Hermione.
"So, Hermy-own-ninny, Viktor has spoken of you often. How is it that you are so quiet? He voss alvays saying you had much to say on many subjects." she asked, in what Harry could only feel was a critical voice. He felt himself moving closer to that side of the room, almost as if he were being pulled.
Though she had turned quite pink, Hermione said in a voice they all knew, " I was just letting the rest of you get to know one another. What exactly did you want to hear me talk about? I'm quite good at Arithmancy, would you care to hear about that? Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to do any magic during the summer, or I could show you how well I've learned a banishing charm."
'Uh-oh' thought Harry. 'someone do something fast!'
Obviously someone, he suspected Ron, had decided to do exactly that. At that moment, Crookshanks shot into the room. His fur had nearly regained its fluffy appearance, but there were still traces of the potion Fred and George had given Ginny for her hair. Try as they did, Molly and Ivy had been unable to come up with an antidote that worked completely.
Upon seeing the green and violet cat jump into Hermione's lap, both of the adult Krums gasped, then began to sneeze repeatedly and violently. " I vas not avare your cat came to your home," Viktor said stiffly. "I vas thinking he vould remain at your school."
" Well, you might have asked!" snapped Hermione. "Here, Crookshanks, I'll take you back upstairs, where you can be all comfy." She got up, and left, holiding Crookshanks in her arms. Harry could only describe it as sweeping from the room.
In spite of the dead silence that followed her departure, Harry couldn't help feeling proud of Hermione. No whimpering or shrieking for her. The little girl cowering in the corner, shrinking from the troll seemed to be gone forever In her place was a, well, this was one female he hoped he'd know for a long, long time. And in as many ways as possible, as long as that didn't include the way she obviously felt about Viktor and his family.
"Let's see about that tea, shall we?" said Ivy, getting up and pointing into the dining room as if her daughter had not just shown her disapproval of the guests in a most definite manner. " I think Harry and Hermione have put everything in its place."
In the confusion of sitting down, tea being poured and the food being passed around, Fred and George were able to whisper to Harry and Ron " Looks as if we may not even need our little plan, eh?" " Shall we forget it?"
"No, no! Let's do it, just to be sure." Harry muttered back. " Don't you think it's time to let me and Ron in on the details?"
" Not yet." replied George with a wink.
"You'll find out all you need to when it's time." added Fred.
To be continued..........