Chapter 10
July began with soft heat in Romania. The Quiddich season was over and Krum was spending more time at home with his new baby. Victor put on his overly starched shirt with some discomfort. "Mama!" He cried in Romanian." How do you button shirt?"
"Stupid boy! You have studs! The little silver things with the black tops, there should be 5."
"uh huh." How annoying, he thought, the day of my marriage and I can't even get dressed.
"Hurry up, stupid boy! Your bride is ready and the carriage is here!" Victor started to curse.
When he finally figured out how to put in the shirt studs and adjust his cufflinks so that the clip was on the inside of the cuff, he shoes were on the right feet and his tie was straight.
"Now, how vonderful you look," said his mother. "My son finally has chosen his bride! She is nice, Viktor, but don't let her control you. She is a better wizard than you and could curse you out of the house if she wanted to, however, she is naive. Educate her, Victor, teach her of the horrors that exist in this world so that my grandchild can see many sunsets and, maybe one day, she will do it beside a husband of her own."
"Don't worry mama I will protect her. And you know, mama, her spells don't alveys vork! We are here today because her spells don't always vork."
The door opened and beyond it's threshold stood Hermione. She wore a simple white dress with a small trail. A laurel was upon her head. Victor came close to her and took her hand to his chest. "A more beautiful sight could not exist."
"Thank you."
"Come children, it's getting late, let's get you to the church, hmmm?"
In the carriage the nerves created stagnation. Time was moving too slow. "Victor, I know this may not be the time to ask," Hermione said, "but how are we to live now that you are not playing Quiddich?"
"Not to vorry, my love, I have everything verked out. I have a job lined up. Someting you and will both have to work at, especially you with your amazing touch at transfiguation. Yes. I am very blessed with a beautiful daughter and no one could ask for a better mother. This however, you can do. It's very simple transfiguration. 2nd year stuff."
"What, pray tell?"
"Quiet, girl!" Said Mother Krum. "It is bad luck to talk so before vedding! My son will make sure you do not starve for if he does, he will have me to answer to!"
And as the sun set and the bride was given away, the bells rang of joy and the whole town came down to congratualte their local hero; the Quiddich player who would show them all. Victor and his new bride rode off out of town. He said that there is family who must meet her in a village many miles from the town. The baby would be safe with mother.
They met with Victor's cousin Gregor. "He will help us make a living while I go back to school and when I graduate, my love, you will return to Hogwarts while I take over this living."
"Victor," said Gregor. He proceeded in Romanian, "do you not know what you are asking her to do. Does she know that she will breaking muggle law? Does she know that she may be seeing the insides of a muggle prison, and not just any muggle prison but a Romanian one?"
"What does it matter, we can escape the muggles. For thousands of years we have lived among them and they could never stop us from doing anything. No, it is the other wizards I worry about, and the vampires."
"Still, Victor, does she know the dangers she is about to face?"
"This girl is no stranger to danger! She is one of the bravest and cleaverest witches I have ever known and if you love me, Gregor, love her as well and help us survive. We are not about to disgrace you."
"Very well," he said. Gregor glanced at her while he led them away. Hermione just stared at them like they had four heads, not understanding a word they said. "Come with me," said Gregor in English. "I will take you where you are to work."
"Victor?" Hermionie asked. "Are we to stay in this town? We are not to go back to your mothers?"
"No, she will come along with the baby after we have had a weeks honeymoon."
"Here?"
"Of course! We do not have time nor money to travel my love, if we are to survive we must start to work now. We will have our own quarters and plenty of time to be alone, my sweet."
They walked along a path that led out of the village and ended up at an empty patch of wood. "This vill be ware you are to live and verk," said Gregor. At that moment a house appeared in the patch. It was small and rather ragged. The wood looked crooked and roof looked like it was about to collapse. "My aunt will be by with the baby soon." Gregor started to walk back to town.
"Come," said Victor, "I must explain what we are to do before mother gets here." They walked inside the hut. There were two rooms. In the first, as you walked in the house, just beyond the foyer, was a small living room with two chairs and a lamp table. On it was a small old lamp with talismans hanging from the shade. There was a door on the opposite wall that led to the back room that had a table, a crib and a small twin size bed. "Don't you think we should get something larger?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe after we get some money, but now we'll be quite cozy, no?" Hermione gave him a look of surprise and slight disgust.
"We'll need something bigger eventually. I love you dearly but sometimes I will want to sleep without being on top of you or vice versa!"
"Very well I will get a larger bed soon, but come," Victor waved his wand and some of the floor boards came up and slid aside. He reached down in side and pulled up a plastic bag filled with what looked like a pinkish blue powder. "This," he said, "will be the key to our survival. Do you know what this is?"
"Oh, Victor, no! You can't, you can't be! Why didn't you tell me? How could I have missed you using this stuff."
"Oh, wait, I don't.. oh no no no.. I don't use this stuff. I transfigure it. The best way to ship Heroin; make it so that the muggles can detect it by making it something else. That's why we are here, we are to transfigure new shipments everyday and pack them into crates out the back door. That's all. No one is going to use it. Every crate we provide, we get the equivalent of 100,000 pounds. Imagine, you can go back to school on your own. We can buy a bigger house, Hermy, this is the key!"
"Victor, people's lives get destroyed by this stuff, you can't ask me to do this, you can't! I will not have people's lives destroyed for my sake!"
"Hermy, please, there is no other way. Do you see many employment opportunities out here? Especially for Wizards? The only way I could make money before was Quiddich, but thanks to your inability to cast a simple charm..."
"I did cast it right! The timing was wrong! And it's like you had very much luck either! You act like this is all my fault! You're the one who wanted the baby!"
"Hermy, please, this is temporary. We have two or three shipments and we're done. We take the money and run. It's only for a short while so that you will have the money for school, our child's education and one day I will go back to playing Quiddich or work for the local Ministry."
"How are you going to get a job at the ministry when they find our you've been a drug trader."
"No one vill know! How can they? Gregor is the secret keeper, he is a very well respected man. No one would question him. Besides it is not like many of the wizards in our ministry would mind a crippling drug distrubuted amongst the muggles."
"I can't believe you! I can't believe you would have me do this!"
"Hermione, I love you, if you don't want to do it, I understand, but this will be how we get out of this mess. We have no other choice."
July began with soft heat in Romania. The Quiddich season was over and Krum was spending more time at home with his new baby. Victor put on his overly starched shirt with some discomfort. "Mama!" He cried in Romanian." How do you button shirt?"
"Stupid boy! You have studs! The little silver things with the black tops, there should be 5."
"uh huh." How annoying, he thought, the day of my marriage and I can't even get dressed.
"Hurry up, stupid boy! Your bride is ready and the carriage is here!" Victor started to curse.
When he finally figured out how to put in the shirt studs and adjust his cufflinks so that the clip was on the inside of the cuff, he shoes were on the right feet and his tie was straight.
"Now, how vonderful you look," said his mother. "My son finally has chosen his bride! She is nice, Viktor, but don't let her control you. She is a better wizard than you and could curse you out of the house if she wanted to, however, she is naive. Educate her, Victor, teach her of the horrors that exist in this world so that my grandchild can see many sunsets and, maybe one day, she will do it beside a husband of her own."
"Don't worry mama I will protect her. And you know, mama, her spells don't alveys vork! We are here today because her spells don't always vork."
The door opened and beyond it's threshold stood Hermione. She wore a simple white dress with a small trail. A laurel was upon her head. Victor came close to her and took her hand to his chest. "A more beautiful sight could not exist."
"Thank you."
"Come children, it's getting late, let's get you to the church, hmmm?"
In the carriage the nerves created stagnation. Time was moving too slow. "Victor, I know this may not be the time to ask," Hermione said, "but how are we to live now that you are not playing Quiddich?"
"Not to vorry, my love, I have everything verked out. I have a job lined up. Someting you and will both have to work at, especially you with your amazing touch at transfiguation. Yes. I am very blessed with a beautiful daughter and no one could ask for a better mother. This however, you can do. It's very simple transfiguration. 2nd year stuff."
"What, pray tell?"
"Quiet, girl!" Said Mother Krum. "It is bad luck to talk so before vedding! My son will make sure you do not starve for if he does, he will have me to answer to!"
And as the sun set and the bride was given away, the bells rang of joy and the whole town came down to congratualte their local hero; the Quiddich player who would show them all. Victor and his new bride rode off out of town. He said that there is family who must meet her in a village many miles from the town. The baby would be safe with mother.
They met with Victor's cousin Gregor. "He will help us make a living while I go back to school and when I graduate, my love, you will return to Hogwarts while I take over this living."
"Victor," said Gregor. He proceeded in Romanian, "do you not know what you are asking her to do. Does she know that she will breaking muggle law? Does she know that she may be seeing the insides of a muggle prison, and not just any muggle prison but a Romanian one?"
"What does it matter, we can escape the muggles. For thousands of years we have lived among them and they could never stop us from doing anything. No, it is the other wizards I worry about, and the vampires."
"Still, Victor, does she know the dangers she is about to face?"
"This girl is no stranger to danger! She is one of the bravest and cleaverest witches I have ever known and if you love me, Gregor, love her as well and help us survive. We are not about to disgrace you."
"Very well," he said. Gregor glanced at her while he led them away. Hermione just stared at them like they had four heads, not understanding a word they said. "Come with me," said Gregor in English. "I will take you where you are to work."
"Victor?" Hermionie asked. "Are we to stay in this town? We are not to go back to your mothers?"
"No, she will come along with the baby after we have had a weeks honeymoon."
"Here?"
"Of course! We do not have time nor money to travel my love, if we are to survive we must start to work now. We will have our own quarters and plenty of time to be alone, my sweet."
They walked along a path that led out of the village and ended up at an empty patch of wood. "This vill be ware you are to live and verk," said Gregor. At that moment a house appeared in the patch. It was small and rather ragged. The wood looked crooked and roof looked like it was about to collapse. "My aunt will be by with the baby soon." Gregor started to walk back to town.
"Come," said Victor, "I must explain what we are to do before mother gets here." They walked inside the hut. There were two rooms. In the first, as you walked in the house, just beyond the foyer, was a small living room with two chairs and a lamp table. On it was a small old lamp with talismans hanging from the shade. There was a door on the opposite wall that led to the back room that had a table, a crib and a small twin size bed. "Don't you think we should get something larger?" asked Hermione.
"Maybe after we get some money, but now we'll be quite cozy, no?" Hermione gave him a look of surprise and slight disgust.
"We'll need something bigger eventually. I love you dearly but sometimes I will want to sleep without being on top of you or vice versa!"
"Very well I will get a larger bed soon, but come," Victor waved his wand and some of the floor boards came up and slid aside. He reached down in side and pulled up a plastic bag filled with what looked like a pinkish blue powder. "This," he said, "will be the key to our survival. Do you know what this is?"
"Oh, Victor, no! You can't, you can't be! Why didn't you tell me? How could I have missed you using this stuff."
"Oh, wait, I don't.. oh no no no.. I don't use this stuff. I transfigure it. The best way to ship Heroin; make it so that the muggles can detect it by making it something else. That's why we are here, we are to transfigure new shipments everyday and pack them into crates out the back door. That's all. No one is going to use it. Every crate we provide, we get the equivalent of 100,000 pounds. Imagine, you can go back to school on your own. We can buy a bigger house, Hermy, this is the key!"
"Victor, people's lives get destroyed by this stuff, you can't ask me to do this, you can't! I will not have people's lives destroyed for my sake!"
"Hermy, please, there is no other way. Do you see many employment opportunities out here? Especially for Wizards? The only way I could make money before was Quiddich, but thanks to your inability to cast a simple charm..."
"I did cast it right! The timing was wrong! And it's like you had very much luck either! You act like this is all my fault! You're the one who wanted the baby!"
"Hermy, please, this is temporary. We have two or three shipments and we're done. We take the money and run. It's only for a short while so that you will have the money for school, our child's education and one day I will go back to playing Quiddich or work for the local Ministry."
"How are you going to get a job at the ministry when they find our you've been a drug trader."
"No one vill know! How can they? Gregor is the secret keeper, he is a very well respected man. No one would question him. Besides it is not like many of the wizards in our ministry would mind a crippling drug distrubuted amongst the muggles."
"I can't believe you! I can't believe you would have me do this!"
"Hermione, I love you, if you don't want to do it, I understand, but this will be how we get out of this mess. We have no other choice."