Disclaimer: None of this is mine. I wish it is, but it isn't.
A/N: First off, I'd like to thank my reviewers – all of you have been great, and I've taken your comments into consideration. Secondly, I have to apologise for this being posted up so late. I've had many midterms and papers due, and I just came down with a touch of flu, most likely since I've been lab work with a strain of E. coli (a bacteria for those who don't know what I'm talking about) in my classes. I get my reading break in a couple of weeks, so I should be able to update soon.
~***~
Hermione look out her window one more time. The weather seemed to match her mood: it was grey, cloudy, and it was raining. No storm, but just that constant drizzle that made you want to sit in front of a fireplace in a cushy arm chair with a blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book. But she wasn't about to do that just yet - she was determined to reply to Viktor today.
So far her letter consisted of:
Viktor,
That's it.
She didn't know what to say. And how do you write something when you couldn't even say it? Hermione watched a chickadee struggle to fly outside. She smiled at the thought of flying, forgetting for a brief second that she hated to fly, probably because it's the one thing she wasn't good at no matter how many books she read.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, and out of pure frustration, she thought, "What I need to do is just talk to him!" She stopped. Maybe that's it. She should go down to Bulgaria and talk to him. She really didn't want to hurt him, and maybe seeing him once more might confirm her feelings that he's just a friend. And if that's true, then it might be easier to tell him that she just wanted to be friends, and that they actually would be friends.
Her mind set, she put her pen to the paper and completed her letter.
Viktor,
Thanks for inviting me. I think it might be a good idea for me to visit you down in Bulgaria. My parents said that they're okay with me travelling as long as I'm careful. I'll let you know the exact day and time soon.
Hermione
~***~
"Well, that's it Crookshanks. We're going to Bulgaria very soon." Crookshanks didn't seem to be all that interested in Hermione's opinion.
"I have to write to Harry and Ron and tell them I'm going. Ron is going to freak out".
Hermione decided that since it was so close to Harry's birthday, she'd just enclose the letter and gift together. She had bought his gift quite a while ago. It consisted of two parts, both of which she found in Hogsmeade and decided they were perfect for him: a book entitled, "Invisibility Cloaks - All That Has and Can Be Done With Them" and a little statue of a stag that pawed on the ground anytime someone looked at it. She attached notes to both gifts.
She sat down and began to write the letter to Harry explaining where she was going.
~***~
She watched the Granger's family owl, Athena, fly away carrying the gifts and letter to Harry. Her parents had decided to buy an owl so they could keep in touch with her while she was in school. She knew she slightly chickened out when she wrote the letter. She decided to write at the last minute as post-script asking Harry to tell Ron that she had gone when he visits him at the Burrow. Ron was going to be furious at her when she comes back, but there was not much she could do now. She made up her mind, and she was going to Bulgaria whether he liked it or not.
~***~
Feeling a little sick, which she wasn't sure was due to the airplane food or the anxiety of finally meeting Viktor, she shakily got off the plane and followed the pack of people like a little duckling on the way to luggage pick-up area. She looked around for her suitcase, which she thankfully put a blue ribbon on the handle so it would be easy for her to recognise, and headed off to so the waiting area.
It wasn't hard to pick him out in the crowd. He stood by to the left of the doors and the crowd shuffling his feet. He had a big grin on his face when she stepped out.
"Hermy-own-ninny!" he said when she reached him. She chuckled silently wondering if he would ever say her name properly. He looked as if he wanted to hug her but she had her hands full of suitcases and her backpack. He shrugged and grabbed a suitcase and brought her out to a cab.
"Ve vill be taking the Muggle way to get to my parents place," he stated, before flagging down a cab.
They loaded her luggage in the trunk of the car, and headed out of the airport. Hermione was gawking out of the window taking in all the historical sights as they drove by. She felt a hand on her arm, turned to Victor and heard him say, "Velcome to Bulgaria". She smiled back at him but wondered in her heart whether he would regret those words once the week was over, because now that she has seen him, she doesn't know what she'll say to him.
~***~
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AN: Please R/R guys! I'd really appreciate it!