Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter land, good thing or we would still be waiting for The Prisoner of Azkaban. The lovely J.K. can keep them, she is doing a wonderful job. I will just borrow them, tardy as this post is. L
A/N So sorry, I lost my mind and finally found it now. This has been waiting for ages on my computer and it was only the prompting of my sisters that got me back on track. There is really no excuse for pure laziness but that is the only excuse I can give you. I apologize profusely and hope that some of you guys can forgive me for ignoring your pleas to continue. I can only say again sorry and that I hope you enjoy this chapter. As the say, better late then never and this is very late. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!
Chapter Five
Hermione looked around the room she had just emerged into. It was a dark room, lit only by the light of a dying fire and a single torch burning on the wall. It was hung with tapestries depicting battles, all with the overhanging eyebrows and the burning eyes that appeared characteristic to the Krum family. There were stuffed animals on the wall, yet on closer inspection Hermione gasped. They were animals but what type of animals she couldn't be sure. In fact it seemed to be a Minotuar, and next to it there was a fabled winged horse, and a Gruagach. It looked like the evil lair of a monster, out of a Gothic fairy tale, and it was.
At the sound of Hermiones gasp Viktor Krum moved out of the shadows from where he had been observing her. She was still as attractive as she had always been. He decided then and there that his plan would work, that it must work or else he would go mad. He wanted her with a burning passion, and Viktor Krum had never failed to get what he wanted. He spoke to her then, the sound of his voice sending shivers of remembered fear coursing down her back like cold water.
"So nice to see that you are as punctual as ever my little dove. I am allowed to call you that aren't I? I did so love your name but it was so hard for me to say. My little dove works so much better for me, I can see you as the caged bird, so beautiful, yet trapped by the worlds stupidity. You are so much smarter then many. That is why I called you here. You see I have a problem, that only you can solve." As he said that last sentence his voice dropped down to a seductive whisper, that Hermione had to fight to hear.
He had a problem? She had a problem. She was stuck in a room with her old rapist, and no one knew where she was. She was a fool to think she could ever do this, she should have turned Cleveland down, been fired, quit or anything to not be in this situation. Sure she was smart, but brains weren't everything. Krum was watching her, she could feel his eyes, they were always so strong, so powerful. He sat down and patted the seat next to him in a friendly manner. This jogged Hermione out of her panic. He was trying to be friendly? This was a laugh. After what he had done to her he was trying to be suave and hold a conversation? Apparently so because he started talking again, this time without the seductive manner he had adopted the first time. In fact it seemed like the first time they met, with both of them awkward around each other.
"Hermione, you portkeyed here, instead of to the office because I had something to say to you. I apologise. I never meant to hurt you, and at the time I didn't think how my actions would have an effect on you. All I knew was that I loved you and needed to be as close to you as possible. I was spoilt, never considering the repercussions of any of my actions, and I saw you as my ultimate goal. That night I went a little crazy and it was wrong, so very wrong. I am neither excusing what I have done, nor justifying it. I am simply apologising for my horrible mistake. I hope you can understand the pain I am going through right now when I think of your anguish. You still mean so much to me and I am determined that you will not go home until I can look you in the eyes and not see pain. You are like a frightened deer, but I am a hunter no more. Please accept my peace offering of dinner tonight, so you can see I am not monster, but just a silly human boy desperate for your forgiveness." He gave her that shy smile that had melted her heart in fourth year, and destroyed her life in seventh. Was he serious, or was he just trying to do what he had done before? Hermione wasn't sure. There had seemed a certain amount of sincerity in his voice and eyes, but he was an accomplished aristocrat accustomed to performing on the media stage. Could he really be apologizing? It seemed surreal, but some people do grow up. He hadn't tried anything yet, and if she did she would be ready for him. She would accept his peace offering, but only at face value. If he was playing a game with her then she would play one right back.
"I will go with you tonight, so that our working relationship is conducive to the most efficient work we are capable of. I assume we will start on the project tomorrow, is that correct?" She said this briskly, as professional as possible. The less he knew about his effect on her the better. She didn't want him to have any more weapons in his arsenal; he had enough as it was.
"Yes, tomorrow will be a good day for work, tonight is time for play. You must tell me what you have been doing since you ran away from me, my little dove. I have missed your conversations. You are the only witch I have ever met who was as beautiful as she was intelligent. Follow me to your rooms. You will be staying here, in my castle with me. Get dressed and ring the bell, a servant will lead you to the foyer where I will be awaiting your radiant presence." With that final compliment he slipped away, leaving Hermione blushing furiously, uncertain of why in front of a large set of doors. She pushed them open and sank down in front of them once she was inside. Why did she feel that dinner was going to be a lot more then she bargained for?
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Krum allowed himself a triumphant smile as he left her quarters. It was working like a charm. She would soon be his and only his. She was so beautiful, so amazing. He had never wanted anyone else as much as he wanted Hermione. Yet this time he would wait. She would give herself to him. Beg him to take her and hold her. She would want nothing but him. She had rejected him once before and in his childish stupidity he had forced her. Now he knew that you had to wait, and take it slow, the longer the wait the better it was. Hermione was the only girl who had ever rejected him and it had stung at the time. He had ignored the pain and gone on with his life, but there was always the memory of Hermione, of her laugh and of her hair, and of the time they had spent together. He was in love with her, and had stuffed it up the first time, but now he knew what to do. A few more comments like those at dinner and then let her sleep on it. In the morning confess the absence of a project, explaining it was his need to see her. He would beg her to spend a few more days with him, just so she would understand how sorry he was. It would work. It had too. She must not leave him again, she belonged with him.
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'She belongs with me', George Weasley thought furiously. How dare she go gallivanting around Bulgaria when he was at home, waiting for her to come back to him? If she wanted to have an affair with her ex-boyfriend then that was fine with him. He just wished she wouldn't. She meant too much to him for him to be happy about the situation. What he needed to do was speak to this Eddy guy. Maybe he would have some answers. He entered the Ministry of Magic buildings, jumping in the elevator up to the Muggle floor. He brushed irritably at the memos around his head. He was not in the mood for the hilarity of the MOM, in fact he needed to speak to Eddy so that he could get back to working with Fred on the new spells.
Once he entered the floor a bustling man, with little bulging eyes approached him. The man had a large grin on his face; a fact that did not escape George. The man did not look the type that would grin often.
"Can I help you or have you just come to look at the most efficient department in the building?"
" I am looking for a man named Eddy. Apparently he works here, with…" No he was not going to think about Hermione. What if she was with Krum? He wiped the thought from his mind; self-torture was too easy for George Weasley.
"Ah…Edward. He's over there" pointing at a table in the corner the man left, obviously not impressed by George's request to speak with Eddy. Eddy was sitting at the desk, writing as fast as he could, a pile of scrolls balanced on his desk. As George watched another scroll was flicked to his desk from the bustling, grinning man. He was definitely overworked and George loathed to bother him, but he had to know what was going on. He couldn't just stay in the dark.
"Hi, my name is George Weasley, um… are you Eddy? The one who sent me the letter? I just wanted to talk to you about a few things." Eddy looked up at George then smiled.
"You look exactly like I expected you would. Sit down, Molly has told me all about you, She can talk for ages about you, and all your family. That's good though because I can talk for ages too. I guess that's why we along so well. In fact I'm glad you came, I do have many questions for you. It's about Hermione. I'm very worried about her trip to Bulgaria. I've done some research on that Viktor Krum character that asked for her, and he seems to be a very unsavory person. Not that Hermione can't look out for herself, but he has got a bad reputation." He grimaced. "I don't know, but I was hoping you would understand things a bit better, considering your relationship with her."
"I don't have a relationship with her, she didn't tell me anything about her trip. She just left. I think she prefers Krum to me". He sounded petulant, like a little boy. But he had been hurt so perhaps it was understandable, however the tone in his voice made Eddy quirk an eyebrow at him.
"I think I need to tell you all I know so that you don't go flying off on a tangent. You are over reacting to Hermione's trip. Now, from the start: Hermione is madly, head over heel in love with you. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. She was freaking out over you and then cracked it at our Boss." He nodded at George's inquiring glance at the greasy man who welcomed him. "Yes him. He liked the way she looked in a skirt and our Hermione told him off, quite well in fact. She was an inspiration to the whole feminist world." He took a breath, then continued.
"Anyway, for punishment she was sent to Bulgaria to do some no credit work. That was not wholly his idea. He had received a letter the day before from a guy in Bulgaria, asking if Hermione Granger worked in this department. When Mr. C confirmed that yes she did he then asked if she could be sent to Bulgaria. The two of them did some boy business talking, this Krum fellow apparently assuring Mr. C that he would be making life hell for Hermione because he instantly agreed, and Hermione was gone the next morning. That's all I really know. Can you tell me why this Krum fellow wanted Hermione to go to Bulgaria? Who is he and what does he want with her? Plus, why are you so dead set that she likes him more then you? That's just crazy talk that is. You don't look like a crazy boy; Hermione wouldn't like you otherwise."
"Are you saying that Hermione loves me?" George was still astonished. She did? Why had she run off then? Was there still hope for him? Maybe Krum wouldn't get her. But what was all the other stuff, Krum asked for her…that would mean that he wanted to see her. And if a man like Krum wanted to see his Hermione it could only mean one thing. Bad news. George did not trust the man an inch and now Hermione was stranded in Bulgaria with him.
Eddy was watching him curiously. He could read George's face like a book, and it was telling him that George knew something about Hermione and Krum.
" So what do you know? I told you all I know, just to clear your head of silly misconceptions, now you have to return the favour. I am forming some very strange ideas. Is Hermione a Colombian drug lord and Krum her partner in crime? No…I know she is starting an international ring of house elf advocates, and Krum is the Vice president in the Bulgarian cartel. Tell me George, or I will tell Molly how silly you are being." He looked hard at George. George was still looking a bit dazed, like he had suffered a shock, perhaps he shouldn't have told him that Hermione was madly in love with him, Eddy might get nothing lucid out of him for the remainder of the day.
" No nothing like that. Hermione and Krum used to date. Then at the end of Hermiones last year at Hogwarts Krum invited her to stay at Bulgaria with him. She accepted, thinking nothing of it. Krum abused her dreadfully and she fled back to the safety of England and tried to block the memories of that trip. She was successful until she told me, that's when all the repressed emotions came back. I think she was getting over it, but then he goes and finds her, and makes sure she gets sent to Bulgaria again. For what reason I don't know, possibly to finish off the job he did on her last time. She is so brave, but I don't think she can handle that man. He is the one thing that I have seen reduce her to a sobbing wreck. Nothing has ever done that to her, not anything that happened during the War, and she saw a lot of things…" He trailed off, remembering how he had felt when Hermione and Ron had been kidnapped by the Death Eaters to try and ruin Harry. It hadn't worked, as the pair were stronger then the Death Eaters had realized, having been taking lessons in the Defense against Dark Arts by all the members of the Order of the Phoenix, the real Dumbledores army. That was one of the worst times in George's life, as he and Fred had been on a special mission and could not do anything. The pain that George had felt when he thought that Ron and Hermione were dead was immense. It was at that time when he realised that he loved Hermione, that she was special, and yet it had taken all this time to even get close to her. He didn't want her to be in Bulgaria, especially not with Krum, yet she had not told him she was going. Eddy said that she loved him, but that was just his word, not Hermiones. Was it possible that she wanted to be with Krum? Maybe it was what she needed to exorcise her demons, but there was a niggling doubt that she just didn't want a life with him, she wanted Krum, as unlikely as he told himself it was.
"You need to snap out of this funk you're in, its very hard for me to follow your train of thought when you keep derailing it. OK, so Krum is Hermiones ex, who we don't want her spending time with because he is so bad. Hermione didn't tell you she was going and you are a silly bugger who jumps to conclusions so fast that I have to tie you down." He smiled broadly at George, " plus my info that Krum asked for her we have nothing solid to base our opinions on. When you have no ideas you must go straight to the horses mouth. Lets us owl Hermione, find out what she's up to. She probably just left the house in a hurry and didn't have time to let you know." And then, changing the topic he said " I have got to do some more work now, Mr. C is just waiting for an excuse to fire me, jealous of my superior good looks, or my keen intelligence no doubt. Come with your mum to her class tonight, we will talk more then, and you will finally be able to Cook without Fuss, that's tonight's lesson. Now go, write her a letter and tell me all about it tonight." George slowly stood up. He hadn't really got many answers from Eddy, in fact he just had more questions, our niggling doubts. He was not sure what he meant to Hermione, no matter what Eddy said it was possible that he was wrong. Men never could understand women, so he shouldn't trust Eddy with that. Eddy was making shooing motions with his hands.
" Get out of here, you're just taking up space. Write her a letter. Talk to her. Off you go lover-boy." George left, leaving Eddy to his own thoughts. They were complicated and worried. He was a bit concerned for Hermione. Viktor Krum had an infamous slogan attached to his name "He always gets what he wants" He wanted Hermione, and if the rumors were true then he had already taken her. Why he would want her again was beyond Eddy, unless Krum didn't feel that what he had done to Hermione counted. If Krum wanted Hermione then she would have no defenses. Krum was regarded as one of those men who had it all. Looks, money and charisma. Hermione might even feel something for him, which was so much worse. It was true that you always kept a small part of your previous relationships with you, no matter how bad they might have been. George was far too worried already for Eddy to share his concerns but the fact remained, Hermione was not safe over there with the maniac.
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"Harry!" Ginny Weasley howled at him. "You are meant to be my fiancée yet you are taking mums side on everything. I said that I wanted to marry you, not mum. The two of you can just plan my wedding without me then. I'm sure you wont miss me, you don't hear me when I talk to you anyway" then she smiled and everyone relaxed. " I'm kidding, its just that I don't want one of those huge weddings with the whole world invitined. I want to feel special, not on show for all the newspapers to get a shot of."
"But Ginny dear, you are a famous person now. I mean you are marrying Harry Potter and you have your own legion of fans too, Miss Weasel. The people in the wizarding community will want to know about the two of you, you are their darling couple." After the war had finished the world was in mourning, for many of their pillars in the community had been killed. Albus Dumbledore was one of them, a loss that affected everyone. They turned to Harry Potter, to give them the hope for a better world. It had been a long time coming, but everyone knew that Harry Potter was going to marry Ginny Weasley. Molly Weasley understood this, when your world has been torn away you need someone to cling on to, and unfortunately it was her daughter who provided this. " The wedding must be publicized, you can't hide it because then the day will be destroyed by journalist trying everything to sneak in. Better we invite them, then we know exactly where they are."
"I agree with Molly, dear. I know you don't want it big, but that's the way it will have to be." Ginny groaned at Harry patronizing tone. He didn't understand. He had lived with the publicity forever and was used to it, but Ginny was not going to give in without a fight. She knew that what they were saying was right, but it just wasn't what she wanted to do. Plus if she argued hard enough she might win a different issue. She wanted Luna Lovegood to do the wedding, but Harry wanted someone slightly more traditional. At least that's what he said but Ginny knew that it was the fact that he was embarrassed by his association with Luna, and didn't want the whole world to see. It was very wrong of him Ginny thought, and she was determined to win on that issue.
"OK, I agree to have a huge wedding, we can invite everyone in the whole world, just as long as I get Luna Lovegood to do the ceremony. You get the big wedding, I get the celebrant. Deal? Harry? Mum?" She smiled victoriously, that was almost too easy, looking at their defeated faces, slowly nodding their acquiescence. "Now that that's sorted I think it's about time to-" She broke off at a furious banging and shaking at the door. George walked into the room, after finally beating the door handle.
"Mum, I want to talk to you, I need help." George had had it. It was too hard for him now; he didn't know what to do with Hermione anymore. All he knew was that he had to write her a letter, and hope for one in return. Molly turned to look at her son. He looked terrible. The overwrought boyfriend look didn't suit him. She knew what was wrong with him. The doubt that inevitably enters a relationship had entered his and he was not coping. She remembered years ago when she had suspicions about Arthur, and a certain woman. She had been reluctant to approach him and her marriage had nearly fallen apart until a friend had stepped in and mediated between the two of them. Sometimes it became necessary to accept help and intervention from people, just as George was now requesting hers.
"Yes dear, do you want to come into the kitchen? We can leave these two to their own devises and talk." He followed her into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
" Mum, I need to find out if Hermione is in a relationship with Krum, her old boyfriend. She is in Bulgaria with him now, and she didn't tell me she was going. I don't know if she wants me or if she wants Krum. She didn't say to me if she was interested or not. Eddy, your teacher, said that that she is but I don't know. What if she still loves him?" Molly had seemed a little surprised when George mentioned Eddy but recovered her poise.
"Son, you are acting like a little boy whose favourite toy has just been stolen. Do you think that Hermione might have had her reasons for neglecting to tell you where she was going? How would you have reacted if she had said to you that she was going to be visiting Krum over in Bulgaria? I think you would have gone off the deep end and been over possessive. Wouldn't you?" she asked with a slight grin. She knew how much her son valued Hermione, when she had seen the two of them on the couch together that morning it had brought tears to her eyes. She wasn't sure why Hermione was in Bulgaria, but she knew that George had better write her a letter, just to sort things out, even in just his mind. Otherwise she would get back to a man who had driven himself insane, and Molly was sure that Hermione didn't want that, no matter what Molly wanted. She decided that she wouldn't help George with the letter, she would just proofread it at the end to make sure it didn't sound too jealous.
" I want you to sit down and write her a letter, then we will send it to her. The Albatross service will get it there within the hour. Then you will get one back from her and that will be the end of that. No more excuses. I will be checking on you in about half an hour, don't send it with out me looking at it first, or you might scare her, in your frame of mind I don't know what you are going to say." With that admonition she left George sitting alone at the kitchen, a letter forming in his mind.
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Hermione glanced around the room she would be staying in with a shiver. It was decorated almost identically to the room that she stayed in many years ago. Her brain was swirling and her face paled, why would he have given her this room, with all its repressed memories if he was truly repentant as he said. It was too hard for her to think in this room; it was all getting to her. Quickly she turned to her bags, she had to unpack, something for her to do, get her mind off the situation that she had inadvertently ended up in. She pulled her clothes out, stashing them in the cupboard. Next came the paperwork she had brought with her. At the bottom of her back there lay a book. 'The Alphabet soup of Love'. Hermione didn't remember packing it, the charm must have packed it without her recollection. She took it out of the bag. George! Why didn't she tell him where she was going? If she were him then she would be spewing. The book lay on her lap, tempting her to read it. The memories in the room were becoming claustrophobic. The book would get her mind of Krum and onto George. She shuffled the cards and turned to the appropriate page.
Love.
Not to be confused with lust, love is when your happiness depends solely on another person's happiness. Love is something to be treasured, like a flower that blooms only when watered. You must water your love, for you surely have one if this is the page that came up. There are a few rules to follow when watering your love.
Don't drown it. Too much watering can kill off the roots, then eventually the blooms will die, because nothing lives without roots.
Don't forget to water it. Without water the blooms fall off, and if you neglect to water for long enough then the roots will die and you will be left with a dry husk.
Don't use straight water all the time. Variety is the spice of life. Mix a little fertilizer into your water every now and again. Otherwise your flower might not grow, but remain the way it is, and growth is important to any living thing.
These rules are not set in concrete, yet it is advised that you follow them.
The watering of a love can be a long process, but bide your time and you will be rewarded.
Who do you love? Tell them and then you are their gardener for all your life, and they are yours.
Was it just her or was the Alphabet soup of Love really losing the plot? A gardener? The thing with extended metaphors is that they are either extremely clever or not clever at all. She was a little unsure of what category the gardening metaphor fell into. It made a certain kind of sense. Don't be too gushy, but don't be too cold, and constantly allow the relationship to change, because a static relationship will drag both sides down. Well, the way she had been treating George was not over "watering the flower", it was more like neglect, with a healthy dose of cynicism. She knew she could trust him, and she knew that he made her happy and yet she was in Bulgaria and he didn't even know she was gone. She was running from him. Running so she would not have to face the question in his eyes. She did not think she was good enough for him. He was a Weasley, good at friends, laughing, sport and families. She was good at reading and that was about it. She still had virtually the same friendship group that she had had when she was 11. Her job was what kept her busy, not a social life. When she had a day off she caught up on her already caught up work. They were polar opposites, and yet when he held her in his arms it was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was the love between them that she felt, and that was such a powerful force that she was running scared; and into an even scarier situation. It was silly of her to be here in Bulgaria. She didn't want to be in the company of her former attacker. She didn't think that a leopard could change its spots. Krum might be nice on the surface, but she knew better. She had seen him at his worst and he was jealous, aggressive and dangerous. As she tried to think of ways to get out of dinner tonight there was a knocking at her window. It was an albatross with a letter attached to its leg. It was obviously tired, having come from England but as Hermione watched it bent its beak down into a small pouch and ate a tiny crumb of food. Visibly refreshed it flew off.
" So that's how they do it." Hermione spoke out loud; the entrance of the owl had changed the mood from a pensive brooding sort of atmosphere to a lighter more home-like mood. Hermione stomach clenched when she saw the seal on the letter. George. Her love? How was it possible to be uncertain as to whether or not she loved someone? She guessed it wasn't whether she loved him, but whether she wanted a relationship with him. The letter even smelled like him. That musky male scent that was mingled with the smells of all the jokes in his store. It was uniquely George, Fred smelled completely different.
Completely distracted for the moment Hermione was unaware that she was being observed. From behind a large tapestry Krum was watching her, a look of greed on his face. He didn't know whom the letter was from, but by the way she had smelled it the sender must be someone important to Her. A boyfriend in the UK? It was possible Krum admitted to himself, but he didn't really consider that a threat. He would win Hermiones heart, and then he would be complete, a whole man. He stalked off, back down the passage. He had a lot of work to do before dinner.
Hermione opened the letter. It was plain and to the point. She guessed that he had some help in writing it, but then again it was quite possible that he had become a linguistic genius in the time she was away. She smiled at the thought, but then her thoughts went back to the letter.
Hermione,
I know that you left for Bulgaria under slight duress, so it is perfectly fine that you are there. I also know that Viktor Krum is there. I know what he did to you and I want to tell you to be careful. He is not to be trusted, no matter what he says. Hermione assumed he wanted to say more, but was stopped by whoever edited his work.
I am just going slightly mad back home, thinking of you over there with that man. I want to come and join you, so that if you get into trouble I will only be an apparition away. I will not join you if that is not what you want, but rest assured that if I hear nothing from you then I will come and find you. Again the desperation that was halted by the editor.
Please share your thoughts with me, I need to hear from you. You must know how I feel about you, and although I don't know that you reciprocate my feelings it is enough that you are aware of them. This letter is too impersonal to say all I want to, please let me come to Bulgaria, so I can see you in person.
He seemed so forlorn, begging her to let him do what he wanted. Hermione guessed that it was either Ginny or Molly coaching him on the letter. In fact it was still a little to intimidating for her. They hadn't weakened his passions enough for her. Now she was certain of he way he felt, and no more certain about the way she felt, an impossible position for her to be in. She should write him back, let him know what was going on, that Krum was up to something and that she was on her guard. That she was wanting to come home and that she felt completely out of the depth and that she needed him by her side…but she wouldn't write that. It exposed her vulnerable side and left her open to attack. George would get mad at her for letting herself get in that situation. Then he would get mad at her going to dinner with Krum, and living in his castle. And while he was getting mad she would have no defenses. It was too hard for her to open up. She had tried when she had told him about Krum, but it wasn't only that. It was all aspects of her life. She would have to share everything, and that was a staggering thought. There would be no private Hermione, just an "us". Did she want an us? Did she love him? Too many questions; no answers. It was too messy for her ordered mind. She decided to dress for dinner, then write the letter before she went to bed for the night. She just wasn't sure of what she would say, and dinner might help her decide.
George would wait a bit, it was Krum that had to be dealt with now, in all ways.
That's it, but there will be more. I will attempt to write a new chapter now, then post it for you guys within a few weeks, instead of waiting for months before I post it. Thanks for those who hung on through my disappearing act, but I am back, with some new ideas:
Less indecision from Hermione.
More evil from Krum.
A lot of winging on Georgies behalf.
And a minor character might help out someone unexpectedly.
Plus 12 points if anyone can tell where I got the Gruagach from. It exists in a few fantasy realms, and in one cultures mythology.
Thanks my lovely readers….
Muse.