Disclaimer-J.K. Rowlings owns everything in this fic. I only own the plot.
Love Never Dies
Chapter 3-A Friends Good Advice
Hermione spent the next hour and a half outside her tent watching all of the different people go by. Every once in a while she would see a familiar face. Parvati Patil and her twin sister Padma stopped and visited with Hermione for a while. They told her about all the good-looking wizards they had seen. Well, actually Parvati talked about them. Padma just kept rolling her eyes at her twin and giving Hermione a smile that just said 'my twin is crazy'. A few minutes after they left Seamus Finnagin and his best friend Dean Thomas stopped and talked to her. They asked how Harry and Ron were and Seamus informed her that Ireland would be beating Bulgaria just like they had in the last quidditch cup she had attended.
About an hour after Seamus and Dean left, Fred and George Weasley came and sat with Hermione for a while. They talked about the twins' new joke shop. Hermione loved hearing them talk about their shop because they were so excited and both smiled from ear to ear every time the shop was mentioned. They told her to watch the blackboard where the advertisements were written because Weasley's Wizard Weeze would have its own ad this year. She was so proud of the twins for never giving up on their dream of having their own shop. When she told them how proud she was, they promptly informed her that she was reminding them of their mother, and they asked her to stop.
After the twins left Hermione decided that she should make her way down to the stadium. On her way to the stadium she stopped to buy some souvenirs for Ron, Harry, and herself. She bought Harry and Ron each a flag that sang the national anthem and pins that had a picture of the quidditch players, and for herself she bought a figurine of Viktor, just like the one Ron had bought at the last Quidditch World Cup she had attended. She also got a pin that had a picture of Viktor scowling on it. Ron told her before she had left, that he would be supporting Ireland again, and Harry decided after careful consideration that he would be supporting Bulgaria this time. After a few minutes of arguing about who was going to win the Cup this year, Harry and Ron decided to place a bet on the match. Hermione laughed when she thought of the looks on Harry and Ron's faces. Ron had looked very serious as he shook Harry's hand, and Harry was smiling, his eyes shining with amusement. Harry had always thought that Ron's obsession with professional quidditch was very humorous.
"What are you laughing at?" Said a voice that was behind her.
Hermione jumped at the voice, but she quickly composed herself, and turned around and faced the man from which the voice had come. "Oliver, you scared me," Hermione said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Oliver said.
"That's okay. I was just thinking about Harry and Ron,' Hermione said.
"Oh, looks like you bought them souvenirs," Oliver said.
"Yes," Hermione said. "You don't think I would want this horrible flag that is singing the Irish Nation Anthem do you?"
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't look to good if you were waving an Irish flag, and cheering for the Bulgarian seeker," Oliver said and smiled.
"Can you see me walking to my tent after the game wearing all green?" Hermione asked. "I can just see all of the Bulgarians staring at me and looking like I was crazy."
"I don't think they would be staring at you for too long. They'd probably tear you to pieces before you could do anything," Oliver said.
"I suppose you're right," Hermione said. "That's why I'm going to take these souvenirs back to my tent now. Most of the Bulgarians are already in the stadium."
"That sounds like a good idea," Oliver said.
"Would you like to come with me?" Hermione asked.
"I'd love to," Oliver replied.
As they walked, they talked about the old times when they were both at Hogwarts.
"Sometimes I miss being at Hogwarts," Oliver said. "Those days were some of the best of my life. There wasn't so much to worry about back then. Quidditch was always my biggest concern. I must have spent half of my time at Hogwarts inventing new plays and different strategies."
"I remember you sitting in a corner of the common room talking to yourself and pushing little figures around a model of the quidditch pitch," Hermione said.
"I always came up with my best ideas that way," Oliver said and when he saw that Hermione was laughing he spoke again in a more serious tone of voice, "Don't laugh, Hermione. It's really not funny. I loved that model."
"I'm not laughing at your model of the quidditch pitch," Hermione said. "I'm just remembering how you looked while you were playing with it. You were so serious and focused, and when you started talking to yourself, you got this crazy look in your eye. You looked like you belonged in St. Mungo's."
"You thought I was going crazy?" Oliver asked.
"No, I knew you were just very focused and that quidditch was important to you, but I am pretty sure you scared some of the 1st year students." Hermione said.
"I miss being quidditch captain," Oliver said. "I miss making decisions for the team. I felt like I was an important part of the team when I was the captain."
"But wasn't it really stressful?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, but I had more fun playing when I was in charge. It made me feeling important knowing that the Gryffindor team was using plays and strategies that I had thought up. It's really hard to go from being the most important person on the team during school, to only being a member of the reserve team." Oliver said.
"But you're not on the reserve team anymore," Hermione replied.
"Yes, but sometimes it feels like I still am," Oliver said.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Ever since I graduated I've had to prove to everyone that I was a good quidditch player. I worked really hard, and now I'm finally on a team, but I still have to prove myself to people," Oliver said.
"Well, of course you do. You have to prove to everyone that you are going to be a good keeper for your team," Hermione said.
"Yes, but it's hard to prove to everyone that I work for that I should be the keeper on Chudley's team, when I know that no one wants me to play for them. Chudley only hired me to fill in until they can find someone better," Oliver said.
"Then I guess you'll just have to show them that there is no one better than you," Hermione said and stopped in front of her tent. They had walked all the way back by that time.
"Yes, I guess you're right," Oliver said, and then he took the souvenirs out of Hermione's arms, and walked into her tent. "Where do you want these?"
"Over on the table," Hermione said.
Oliver set down the souvenirs and then picked up one of the pins that had a picture of Viktor on it, and then handed it to her. "Don't you think you should wear this?" He asked.
"Yes," Hermione said. "I forgot I bought it." Then she turned it over in her had and looked at the picture, "I don't understand why he always looks so grumpy on these things."
"Maybe because it makes him look more intimidating," Oliver replied.
"Probably," Hermione said. "But he looks so much better when he smiles. I remember the first time I ever saw him. It was at the Quidditch World Cup the summer before my 4th year and I had seen about a million posters of him. On every one of them he had a scowl on his face just like this one." She said pointing to her button. "Anyway, he had just lost the match, and we were in the top box, so I got to see him up close right after the match. He was a terrible mess. His nose was broken and bleeding, and he was still holding the snitch which was crushed between his fingers. I was supporting Ireland, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for him."
"I remember that," Oliver replied. "I felt the same way. I respected him for catching the snitch when they were so far behind."
"So did I," Hermione said. "The next time I saw him was at Hogwarts during the triwizard tournament. Everyone made a big fuss about him being at Hogwarts. Most of the girls followed him around, and the boys all wanted him to be their friend. I've always thought it was pathetic how much people want to know someone just because they're famous. He spent most of his time in the library and I remember I got mad because his fan club would come in to spy on him. They were really distracting and I was trying to study. It's very hard trying to study Transfiguration when there is a group of six girls standing behind a bookshelf giggling."
Oliver laughed and said, "That sounds like you."
"Then one day before Christmas, Viktor walked up to me and asked me to go to the Yule Ball with him," Hermione said. "I was really surprised because he had never even talked to me before, but he explained that he had always went to the library to see me, but he had never had the courage to talk to me before. "
"And you told him you would go with him?" Oliver asked.
"Yes. The night of the ball we talked a lot. He was a lot different than I thought. He was kind and funny. He was just a great person to talk to and to be with," Hermione said. "I realized that he wasn't the sullen boy that I thought he was."
"You cared for him a lot," Oliver said.
"Yes I did. I thought I loved him," Hermione said.
"So why didn't he become your boyfriend then?" Oliver asked.
"Lots of reasons," Hermione said. "Come on. We need to start heading to the stadium. The match starts in less than an hour."
They walked out of the tent and started walking toward the stadium. Oliver assumed that Hermione didn't want to talk about Viktor anymore because she changed the subject so quickly, so he was about to bring up another topic when Hermione said, "I told you some of the reasons earlier. There was the press flocking around us, and me being too young, but we also didn't want to have a long distance relationship. It just seemed like the wrong time to have a relationship with him." Hermione said, then paused for a second and said, "You don't really want to hear about this, do you?"
"I don't mind," Oliver said. "It sounds like you need a friend to talk to. Keep talking, you'll feel better for getting it all out."
"I don't know why it's bothering me," Hermione said.
"Well, do you still have feelings for him?" Oliver asked.
"I don't think so, or at least I didn't before today. I finally accepted the fact that we were only going to be friends at the end of last year," Hermione said. "I was content with that, but then I saw Viktor again today, and he told me that he wanted me to be his girlfriend."
"So you're confused," Oliver replied.
"Exactly," Hermione said. "I had finally gotten over him. I didn't need him to care for me like that."
"And now you're not sure," Oliver said.
"Yes," Hermione said letting out a small sigh. "If this would have happened to me a year ago, I would have practically jumped into his arms, but I've changed since then. And I saw a different side of him today. He was jealous of you, Oliver."
"Why would he be jealous of me?" Oliver asked shocked by what he had just heard. "He is the best seeker in the world."
"He didn't like that you were with me. He thought that you were my boyfriend, and he didn't like it." Hermione said. "I guess seeing me with another man made him realize that he liked me as more than a friend."
"So what did you tell him?" Oliver asked.
"I told him that I had finally gotten over him. I told him that he had hurt me, and that it had been really difficult for me to 'just be friends,'" Hermione said.
"And then what did he say?" Oliver asked.
"And then he told me he was sorry and that he would try to make it up to me," Hermione said. "And then he left."
"Well, it sounds like he cares for you a lot," Oliver said.
"Do you think I should start dating him?" Hermione asked.
'I can't tell you the answer to that," Oliver said "But I can give you a little advice. You need to decide what you want out of your relationship with Viktor Krum. Do you want him to be your boyfriend or just your close friend? And if you want him to be your boyfriend, you need to ask yourself if you are willing to sacrifice your friendship with him, because if you break up, you probably won't stay friends."
"How did you get to know so much about relationships?" Hermione asked.
"I'm telling you this from my own experience," Oliver said.
"Oh really?" Hermione said.
"I got my heart broken when I decided I wanted to date my best friend," Oliver said.
"I'm sorry," Hermione replied.
"It's all right," Oliver said. "It was a couple of years ago and I've learned from my mistakes. For the most part, I've gotten over her now. I've learned not to get involved with friends."
"Was she someone I knew?" Hermione asked when they stopped at the entrance to the stadium.
"No, she didn't go to school at Hogwarts," Oliver said and then quickly changed the subject. "Well, it looks like we're here. I guess I'll see you later."
"Okay, Oliver." Hermione said. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Oliver said and he turned and began climbing up the huge flight of stairs.
"And Oliver?" Hermione said.
"Oliver stopped and turned around. "Yes?"
"Thanks for listening to me," Hermione said. "And thanks for giving me such good advice."
"No problem," Oliver said and he then continued climbing the steps.
A/N-Hi Everybody! I finally updated! Sorry it took so long, I had a major case of writers block, and then ff.net went down, so it took a long time to get this up. Oh, and guess what. Today's my birthday! I'm getting old. I've been 17 for an hour and a minute already. So, everybody be really nice and review this chapter, because I love getting reviews!
Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter!
