I'M BACK!!!!!!! *stunned silence, then whispers of damn, I thought we'd gotten rid of her! ensue*......................You know you missed me......Anyhoo, this is a Herm/Viktor fic, because KRUM IS THE BEST, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup, in this chapter, Viktor is back at home about a week after school ends, he gets a letter from Hermione, yada yada yada. Nothing important, just vital to get the rest of the story told. Oh yeah, and it's from Viktor's point of view, for the sake of making it more interesting. So read it. Yeah. I'll go away now.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (seriously, I don't; I lost my wallet)

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BOOM!!!!! (a/n: Heehee, did I scare you?! *evil grin*)

I woke with a start, almost falling off the bed. A flash of white lightening and another huge

boom of thunder succeeded in bringing me to full consciousness. If there was one thing I

didn't like about Bulgaria, it was the endless storms during the summer season. With them

came inescapable cabin fever and depression, along with nasty colds. As I sat on my bed

staring out at the endless torrent of rain, there was a knock on my bedroom door.

Come in I called in a voice still hoarse from sleep. The door opened, and my mother

entered, holding a few pieces of parchment.

Good morning, Viktor, she said, kissing my cheek. I mumbled a reply while in the midst of

a huge yawn, and gesturing towards the pieces of parchment, I asked,

Are those for me? Mother nodded and held them out to me.

Yes, dear, they came this morning. I took them, and she sat down on the edge of my bed

while I ripped open the first of the letters. It was from my Quidditch captain, Dimitrov.

Practice has been canceled due to high winds, threats of severe storms, and flooding, I

read out loud. Good, means I can get more sleep. Before Mother could scold me for

being lazy, I opened the other letter. As I read the first line, my heart skipped a beat: it was

from Hermione! Not wanting to read this one with Mother still in the room, I quickly put it face

down on the bed. Mother gave me a quizzical look, and I could feel my face turn pink.

It's just from a friend, I muttered, hoping my face wouldn't betray me. My mother,

however, is not a women easily fooled. She looked from my flushed face to the letter on

the bed, smiled, looking as if she had just been told a rather juicy secret, and slyly asked,

It's from that girl you wanted to have over, isn't it? My blush grew deeper as I replied

Her smile grew wider, and she stood up.

Well, I'd better let you read it in private then, hadn't I? She kissed my forehead again, and

left. Face still burning, I snatched the letter and began reading it quietly to myself.

'Dear Viktor,

How are you? I'm doing fine, except I'm bored to death. We live out on the moor,
out in the middle of nowhere.There's not even a library! Anyway, how has your summer
been? Have you been playing a lot of Quidditch? I'm sorry I couldn't come and visit you, it
would have been so much fun. I begged my mum and dad to let me come, but you know
how it is. They don't want their daughter alone in a foreign country. Not that I'd really be
alone.........but I only wish they knew you, they would change their minds, I just know it!
Well, there's no use dwelling on it, maybe next summer? Will you still be playing for the
Vratsva Vultures then? You're an excellent Seeker, but maybe you''l want to try something
else, for variety. Well, I have to go now, so write back!

Sincerely,
Hermione'


I finished the letter with a huge grin on my face. I had been waiting to hear from her ever

since I got home. Jumping out of bed, I hurried over to my desk and pulled out a piece of

parchment and a quill. Sitting down, I leaned on my elbows and thoughtfully chewed the

end of my quill for a moment, then I smoothed out the piece of parchment and began to

write, softly reading out loud as I wrote.

'Dear Hermione,
I am also sorry you could not come to stay with me. My parents were looking
forward to meeting you. Like you said, maybe next summer. There is not much to do here
either. I will continue to be Seeker, although now that you mention it, I would like to try other
things. I have not played much yet this summer, mostly because it has not stopped
storming since I came back. I am very happy to be done with school, especially since we
have no Headmaster. But, I am thinking that having no Headmaster is better than having
Karkaroff. Hopefully, Durmstrang will employ a more trustworthy person this time around.
well, there is not much to tell you, so this is it for now. Goodbye.

Sincerely,
Viktor'


Finished, I threw the quill down and reread the letter. I wasn't satisfied with it, as it sounded

cold and uninteresting, but it was the best I could manage with my English skills. It wasn't

nearly as friendly as Hermione's letter, which was cheerful and warm, just like her. Thinking

about that made me miss her even more. In the midst of this rainy gloom, I needed

someone cheerful. Sighing, I stood up, got dressed, and went downstairs to the kitchen,

where my owl, Nikita, was dozing in his cage. Prodding him awake, I said.

I need you to take this to Herm-own-ninny for me. Nikita, resenting being sent out in the

freezing cold rain, glared at me and reluctantly allowed me to attach my letter to his leg.

Carrying him over to the window, I opened it and flung him out before he could change his

stubborn little mind. As I watched, he was immediately side swept by a strong gust of

wind, but he quickly beat his large wings and regained balance. After eating breakfast, I

wandered around the house, out of my mind with boredom. I thought of inviting some

friends over, but then I remembered that they were all at work. Unlike me, whether they had

to work or not didn't depend on the weather. Scowling, I kicked the stone wall, wishing I was

somewhere that wasn't here. Preferably in England, where Hermione was. I briefly

considered moving there, but then decided I wouldn't want to leave my house. I loved it too

much. It wasn't technically a house; it used to be a small castle, built by a thousand years

ago by my great great great great great great grandfather, Ivan the Shrewd, as a summer

vacation home. It featured a solid stone structure (with the exception of the front door), tiny

windows, and, best of all, two small towers, one of which contained my bedroom, the other

one a spare bedroom. Situated halfway up the side of a small mountain, it loomed over our

town. When I was little, I used to pretend I was a king, and the village was my kingdom. I

would beg my parents to let me fly my toy broomstick further up into the mountains, so I

could slay wild beasts and monsters like all good kings did, but they would never let me.

There's too many cliffs for a little boy to fall of off! they would sternly tell me. They never

more vampires in eighteen years than most wizards see in their entire life. Where I lived,

vampires were as common at night as crickets and fireflies, and once in awhile, if it was a

particularly gloomy day, I would spot one during daylight hours. Lost in my thoughts, I had


wandered up to the spare room in the tower. Entering, I sat down on the edge of the quilt-

covered bed. and gazed around. It was big room, warm and cozy. Next to the bed was a

nightstand covered in lace that my grandmother had knitted, and there was a big fireplace

across from the bed. Even though the fireplace was dark and empty, the room stayed fairly

warm, since the only window in the room was only a few feet long and not wide. Sighing, I

leaned back against the pillows. If Hermione had been able to visit me, this was the room

she would have stayed in. We had many more bedrooms, but nothing could quite

compare to sleeping in a centuries-old tower. Once again, thinking of Hermione made me

feel slightly depressed, so I got up and went back downstairs, at which point my mother

found me and gave me a long list of chores to do. Oh well,' I thought, as I drew my wand,

prepared to clean until I dropped. At least it's something to do.'


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FINALLY!!!! damn, that took forever to type! Anyway, I hope you liked this. there's more coming tomorrow, so check back! Oh yeah, read and review please! Constructive criticism welcomed, and absolutely NO VIKTOR BASHING!!!!!! Thank you and good day.