Disclaimer-J.K. Rowlings owns everything in this fic. I only own the plot, and the few people I made up.
Love Never Dies
Chapter 7-Answers, Answers, Answers
Hermione found Viktor waiting at her tent, pacing back and forth. "Vhere haff you been?" He asked. "I haff been vaiting here for you for almost an hour."
"I went to get some breakfast and I ran into Oliver."
"Ahh, him," Viktor said and scowled.
"Yes, him. He is my friend."
"I know."
"I vas hoping that I could take you to breakfast, but I guess I'm too late now."
"Yeah, I went on my own. Bought something to eat from one of the venders."
"I see," Viktor replied. "So, vhat did you and that Oliver man talk of?"
"Well, we talked about Hogwarts, and about what I was going to do after I graduated."
"Really, and what are you going to do after you graduate?" Viktor asked.
Hermione started to reply, and then stopped and turned and looked at him. She realized how much he didn't know about her. How much he had never bothered to ask about. She didn't answer him. She just stood there and stared up at him.
"Vhat? Did I ask something wrong?"
"No, it's just I can't believe that you don't know what I want to do when I graduate."
"Vell, you neffer told me, Hermioninny."
"Because you never asked."
"Vell, I suppose that if it vas that important to you, you vould haff said something to me."
"It's my life. Is there anything less important?"
"Vell, no. I suppose not."
"Why didn't you ever ask me?"
"Well, I don't know."
"As long as we've known each other, you still don't know something as simple as what I want to do with my life. That's something you should know about the person you are in love with."
"Hermioninny, I'm sorry I never asked. I'm asking now."
"Yes, you are." She said. "I just realized something, Viktor."
"Yes, vhat is it?"
"I realized that you can't possible be in love with me like you say. You don't even know me."
"Hermioninny, but I do love you. I think I alvays haff."
"No, you may have thought you did, but there are so many things that you don't know about me." She paused and then began again. "And obviously you don't really care."
"But I do."
"Why do you want to marry me?"
"Vhat do you mean?" Viktor said with a bewildered look on his face. "How do you know?"
"I met this horrible reporter that Oliver knows, Pendelyn Lane." Hermione glanced over at him observing the look on his face. "Oh I see you've heard of her."
"Yes, ve're acquainted."
"You know I hate being in the newspapers. It probably comes from all the lies written about me during my fourth year. You remember don't you."
"Of course."
"Anyway, she showed me an article she wrote about us. It said we were getting engaged. At first I was outraged, I didn't want lies published again, but then she explained to me how she got her information. She got it from one of your teammates. I guess it seems you should watch what you say to people."
"I'm sorry, I just asked them for some advice. I never knew it vould be put in the papers. I vas so confused about vhat I felt for you. I love you, and yes I do vant to marry you."
"Viktor, I'm seventeen years old. I don't want to get married. Especially to someone who doesn't even really know me."
"That hurts, Hermioninny."
"I don't care, Viktor. It's the truth."
"Ve don't haff to get married now. I vill vait for you." Viktor said desperately, his accent thickening with every word.
"We aren't even dating, Viktor. And besides, you never told me why you wanted to marry me in the first place."
"You know I love you. Isn't that enough?"
"No, not really. You just decided you loved me yesterday, and today I find out from a newspaper that you want to marry me. Sorry, but I think that is a little fast."
"It is true that I haff just told you how I feel, but I think I haff alvays known that I loffed you."
"Loffed?" Hermione asked. "Viktor, calm down I can hardly understand you any more."
"Sorry, I just don't vant to lose you."
"Viktor, you don't really have me to lose. We're not a couple."
"You know how I feel about you. You know vhat I vant."
"I know what you want, but it's not what I want. I don't even think I know you anymore, and you still haven't told me why you want me to marry you."
"But I did. I love you, Hermioninny."
"I'm not so sure you know what that means," Hermione sighed and turned away from him. "You just were scared you'd lose me, so you told me what you thought I wanted to hear."
"Is it vhat you vanted to hear?" Viktor said and turned her around to face him.
"To tell you the truth, Viktor, no, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. It scared me, because I realized that I don't want you to feel that way, because I don't want to feel that way again."
"Vhat?"
"I loved you. You know that I felt that way for you. You were my first love, and eventually I got over you when I realized that you didn't care enough for me to love me back."
"Oh, but I did care about you, then. I just didn't vant you to get hurt, and I didn't vant to get hurt either. I knew I vouldn't be able to see you but maybe one time a year, and I knew that the press vould make a big deal about our relationship again, and you know how I am. I hate the press, I never vanted to be famous, I just vanted to play quidditch."
"And because you were so shy, and afraid to be in the papers, you didn't want to have a relationship with me."
"There vere many other reasons, and you know that, Hermioninny."
"Yes, but you can't tell me that was not the main reason you didn't want to be with me."
"But you were so young, and I was..."
"Yes, I was young, but I could have handled it."
"You hated being in the newspapers as much as I did."
"I know I did, but that wouldn't have stopped me from having a relationship with you. I loved you. I would have done anything to be your girlfriend."
"But vhen I suggested that ve just be friends, you agreed vith me."
"Because I loved you and I wanted you to be happy. I knew it would be easier on you if I told you that I thought the same thing. I told you what I thought you needed to here. Don't you see that I loved you so much, that i was willing to let you go?"
"Oh, Hermioninny, I never knew you did that," Viktor said and put his arms around her, holding her head against his shoulder.
"Don't, Viktor," Hermione said and took a step away from him. She saw the hurt that he was feeling, but she couldn't stand having him that close to her. She knew what she had to tell him. "I don't love you anymore, and I don't think I can ever again."
"But Hermioninny..."
"Don't, I'm not finished," Hermione interrupted. "More importantly, I don't want to love you again. I'm sorry, Viktor. I know that you never meant to hurt me, but you did, and now I'm over you, and I'm not going to let you back into my heart. I'm sorry. I just can't."
"No, Hermioninny. I'm sorry, and now I know how it feels to get your heart broken," Viktor said. "I guess I vill be going."
"Wait Viktor," Hermione said. "You don't have to leave."
"I think it vould be for the best," he said. "I am glad you came to vatch my match. Thank you."
"Your welcome, Viktor." Hermione said as she watched him walk away. "Viktor?"
"Yes, Hermioninny."
"Are we still friends?"
"Of course." He said and continued walking.
She watched him leave, and when she could no longer see him, she sat down right there in front of her tent, and cried. She knew she must have hurt him, but dammit, he hurt her. He didn't have any right to bring back all the pain she felt before. She couldn't let him back in like that. She worked so hard to get him out, and she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. "I know he'll hurt me again. He wouldn't do it on purpose, and he would hurt as much as I would. What I did was the right thing for both of us. It may not feel like it now, but I'm right. I know I am. We're two completely different people, and I'm still not sure he even loves me. Does he know what it is to really love? And me. I'm not ready to get married, not now, maybe in ten years or so, but now is too soon."
She sat there in front of her tent for a long time. She lost track of how long she actually was there, but as she watched everyone begin to say goodbye and pack up there tents, she thought of Viktor, and how they were pretty much doing the same thing with their relationship. Packing up and saying goodbye. She wondered if she would see him again, if they would still write to each other, or if they would pretend like they had never been close.
About two hours after Viktor had left, Fred Weasley walked by.
He almost didn't see her because she was slumped down and her head was in her hands. "Hermione, what's the matter luv?" He asked as he leaned down to be at her eye level.
Hermione looked up and sighed. "I don't know Fred. I don't know. It's Viktor."
"What has he done to you? I'll find him, and I'll make him pay for whatever it is he has done to make you this miserable."
"He didn't do anything wrong. Not really anyway. He just feels for me in a way I no longer can feel for him. He told me he loved me."
"Ah, now Hermione that's not such a bad thing."
"Oh, but Fred it is. He hurt me, before. He was my first love. I was so young and it hurt that he didn't feel the same way, or at least wouldn't feel that way. I finally was beginning to feel like we were only friends, and then I came and saw his match and he saw me talking with Oliver and got jealous."
"Oliver Wood?"
"Yes, I've been spending some time with him while he was here."
"I didn't know he was here."
"Well, he is."
"And what's this about Krum being jealous of our old quidditch captain. Why would he be?"
"Because Oliver was talking to me, and Viktor didn't like seeing me with another man. I don't see why, it's not like we've ever really dated or anything. Then the next day after he had won the Quidditch World Cup he took me to this forest in Scotland and told me that he loved me."
"You went to Scotland?"
"Yes, almost to Hogwarts."
"That Krum is sure strange, but you can't fault him for trying to be romantic. I think that he was."
"Yes, he was, but I don't want him to be romantic. I want him to be my friend." Hermione said. "Why do you make everything he does sound like it was a good thing. I thought you were on my side."
"I am, Hermione. I was just pointing out that he didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know he didn't mean to. You know what else I found out?"
"What?"
"He told his teammates he wanted to marry me."
"Okay, now I have a problem with that. Nobody's going to marry you but me." Fred joked as he slung one of his long arms around her shoulder.
"This isn't a laughing matter."
"I know it's not Hermione. But it's not the end of the world either. I think that Krum just got a little ahead of himself." Hermione shout him a look and he said. "Okay, maybe he got a lot ahead of himself, but that's not the point. The point is that he thought he was in love with you and wanted to marry you. I'm not saying that that is necessarily a good thing, but I think he just made a mistake in telling you so fast. He should have known that you're not ready to get married. Hell, I even know that and I'm not the one who asked you to marry him."
"He didn't actually ask me, Fred." Hermione said. "And I thought you said that the only person that could marry me was you. Changing your story are you."
"Was that a smile I saw Ms. Granger?" Fred asked as she tried to hide her face. "Now, now, I do believe you're in a better mood."
"Yes, that's right I am. I'm just scared about what will become of Viktor and me. I still want to be his friend. I don't want to lose him."
"And I bet he thinks the same thing. I'm not going to lie to you, things will probably be rough for a while, but if you were both that good of friends, nothing will keep you apart. Not even an almost proposal and a romantic trip into the forest."
"I guess you're right."
"I am. Now don't worry about it. Just enjoy the rest of your time here."
"Okay, Fred. I'll try."
"Good. Now, how are you getting home?"
"I'm taking a portkey to someplace near my house."
"Do you want me to come with you. I can always apparate back to the burrow."
"That would be nice. Thank you. I just have to go see Oliver before I leave."
"Oliver you say," Fred said as he wiggled his eyebrows. "You and the quidditch captain seem to have gotten pretty close."
"Yes, I suppose we have. I really like him. He's so good to talk to."
"Hmm, maybe there's a possible love connection."
"I don't want to have a relationship with anyone right now. It seems I'm not ready."
"I didn't say that you were, it just seems like you liked Oliver quite a bit is all. He always was quite the ladies man when I was at Hogwarts. I suppose he's handsome, although he'd never be as good looking as me."
"Of course not, Fred." Hermione said and laughed. "Nobody could be that gorgeous."
"Except George."
"Ah, very true."
"Anyway, what time does your portkey leave?"
"At six."
"I'll be by at 5:45 to pick you up, unless you need help packing up your tent."
"No, that's alright. I can do it."
"Okay, I'll see you later."
"Goodbye, Fred."
"See you soon, Hermione."
Hermione was glad that Fred had shown up when he did. He really put everything into perspective, and made everything seems like it would turn out alright. "If Viktor and I are meant to be together, we will, and if we were meant to be just friends, we will be. And I guess if we were meant to grow apart and never speak again, that will happen too, no matter what I try to do. I guess I'll just have to trust fate and hope that whatever is supposed to happen does happen."
A/N-What did you think about this chapter. There's no more Viktor/Hermione. At least not for now. I've got some bad news folks. I think that this next chapter will be my last on this fic. I feel like I should end it when Hermione leaves. But, I think I will probably write a follow-up fic on this one. I'll tell you more about it after I end the story. I don't want to give anything away.
Now, I'll tell you what has been going on with me and why I haven't posted in a while. I have one word for you all-FINALS! They're terrible, in fact, I should be studying right now, but I'm writing this. Lucky, lucky readers. It's a good thing I have no motivation to study. I'm going to start the next chapter tonight, and hopefully I'll put it up when I'm home for Christmas break. But if I don't it's because I have to work, all break. Don't you all feel sorry for me. Okay, I'm going to get started on this next chapter.
