To Bulgaria and Back: Chapter Four
By: Susan
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything.
Summary: Set the summer before sixth year. Hermione is invited to visit Viktor Krum. However, her parents don't want her traveling alone to meet someone they don't know, so they convince her to take Ron along.
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Hermione awoke almost immediately after the sun rose the next morning. Shaking her hair from her face, she sat up and stretched, turning to her side so she could look out the window.
Last night had been nothing short of a disaster. Viktor had cooked them a delicious meal, but Ron had been, if possible, worse than he had been that day. For one thing, he seemed entirely more distant than he had ever been with her, and kept sending furtive glances her way while they ate. She suspected a new wave of jealously had come over him...after all, he'd acted exactly the same way when Viktor had taken her to the Yule Ball.
The problem with it was that she wasn't sure how she felt when she thought of Ron being jealous of her relationship with Viktor.
In truth, Viktor Krum was not someone she could see herself in a romantic relationship with. He was intelligent and fun to talk to, but he lacked the spark that could have attracted him to her.
But Ron's anger and what Viktor had suggested to her was jealousy were two things that she could not seem to sort out. A tiny part of her was pleased when she saw his eyes flash at the mere mention of Viktor's name or when she wrote him a letter and he acted snappish.
Before Hogwarts, she had been too young to be interested in boys, and now that she was nearing her sixth year and turning sixteen, she was shocked to find that she was unsure of what was going on. Was Ron truly jealous, or did he just dislike Viktor Krum? Or was he just being a friend and looking out for her?
It seemed awfully arrogant to even think the first, and to think the latter gave her a slight feeling in the pit of her stomach that almost made her sick.
"Is Vicky making us breakfast?" Hermione turned to see a very tired looking Ron standing before her. His secondhand pajamas looked tight around his legs, and he was stifling a yawn. As much as she tried, she could not deny the somersault her stomach did when she looked at him.
"You ought to leave Viktor alone, Ron," Hermione said, trying to recover from her thoughts. "He cooked you dinner last night and you ignored him through most of it."
Ron looked at her blankly. "Well, you didn't hear what she said," he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing, Hermione. Now, when's breakfast?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and lay back down. "Is that all you care about? Food? Typical boy." Ron looked offended.
"Normal people want breakfast when they wake up in the morning," Ron said, sitting down on the bed beside her. "Although, I suppose since you read for fun, you wouldn't be considered normal."
Hermione rolled over and turned the other way. "I'm honestly not in the mood for a row, Ron."
Ron gave a loud gasp. "Never thought I'd see the day."
Hermione lifted her pillow up and slammed him in the head with it. He looked dazed for a second, then grabbed the other pillow and lifted it threateningly. He stared at her for a moment and then dropped it.
"Hermione..." he paused, looking as if he'd changed his mind.
"What, Ron?"
"What's that there?" He held a shaky finger out toward her neck.
"What's what?" she asked impatiently.
"That...that right there," he said quietly. She touched her neck gingerly.
"There's nothing there, Ron."
Ron shook his head. "No...It's...it's just there."
"What is?"
"You've got," he paused and blushed, "A love bite."
Hermione snorted. "No I haven't. Where would I get one of those, Ron?"
Ron's eyes widened. "Were you and Vicky- last night- were you-"
Hermione looked shocked that he would even suggest such a thing. "We weren't doing anything, Ron! We stayed up talking while you went up to sleep."
"Well...you've got something right there, Hermione."
"I haven't anything there."
He held out a finger again, "You and Vicky- were you-" His face clouded, and suddenly he looked angry. Hermione slid back from him on the bed. "YOU LET HIM KISS YOU, DIDN'T YOU?"
"I DID NOT!" Hermione shouted, thoroughly angry. "I haven't got anything on my neck, and unless you kissed me in my sleep, I have no idea how it arrived there." Immediately after the words had come out of her mouth, she put her hand over it, as if to stop anything else from leaping out. Ron, however, didn't seem to notice her words, and continued shouting.
"YOU LET HIM KISS YOU WHEN YOU KNOW HE FANCIES YOU?"
"Viktor didn't kiss me, Ron," Hermione said, trying to keep her voice level. She didn't need Viktor to wake up and hear Ron and her fighting about whether or not he had kissed her the night before. It was obvious he already thought she was a child by the way her friends acted around him.
"Then where did you get that...that mark...on your neck?"
Hermione stood up and inspected her neck in the mirror. It was a round pink splotch that gave her the impression she had fallen asleep on something. She stepped back to the bed, lifted the sheet, and looked at Ron triumphantly.
"Honestly, Ron. I fell asleep reading last night," she said, pointing to the book. "Besides, it doesn't even look like a love bite."
Ron didn't look convinced. "What is it, Ron," Hermione asked, a sudden and tart cruelty washing over her, "Jealous, are you?"
Ron stopped and gaped at her. He stood up angrily and stamped into the bathroom. Hermione suddenly felt apologetic. In all honesty, the words had just come out because, at times, it was what she wanted. She flushed at the thought of wanting Ron to be jealous of her and shook it away. Ron was her friend. For almost six years they had been friends.
"Ron?" she asked, following him, feeling the need to apologize. She didn't need him angry with her; she knew it would lead to him being rude all day. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."
He grunted at her. "I'm sorry Ron, you've just been so terrible about Viktor and I that I couldn't take it anymore." He ignored her. She clenched her fists menacingly. Was it only her, or had she apologized to him when she knew it was he that was wrong? And he still was rude to her?
"Well fine then. I haven't got enough time to sit here and try to explain to you that you're being ridiculous."
She turned on her heel and stamped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ron stuck his head out of the bathroom and stared almost longingly at the door she had just crashed shut.
He slapped himself in the head and went back to applying toothpaste to his toothbrush. Whatever was wrong with him lately, he sincerely hoped it would vanish by the time they went home to England, because it was making him feel mighty uncomfortable.
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"Ve are very proud ov our cattle, Herm-own-ninny. Ve have raised them for many years, and ve have vatched them grow."
Hermione stared out across the fields. They seemed to stretch on in front of her for miles, the afternoon sun warming the grassy hills upon the rocky land. Viktor's grounds were nothing short of wonderful.
"They're beautiful, Viktor," Hermione said, sliding her hand through the rails of the brown wooden fence and placing it on a velvety soft cow's back. She could feel it breathing in and out; its chocolately brown coat gleaming in the sun.
"That one has been mine since I vas a child. I named her Dita. I make sure that the men who help to take care of our grounds do nothing to her because she is my own."
Even Ron, who had been standing behind the two with an angry look on his face, could not deny the beauty of the grounds around them. Everywhere he looked there was another rocky hill with greenery growing on it, or a river with a tiny waterfall running over the rocks. He could almost imagine sitting beside Hermione, holding her hand, with their feet in the cool water...
"We should have a picnic lunch here," Ron blurted out.
"We just ate lunch, Ron," Hermione said exasperatedly.
"I meant another day, Hermione," Ron responded quickly, trying to cover up what he had been thinking. He felt the color rise to his cheeks, and determinedly tried not to look at her.
"I think that is a very good notion," Viktor said quietly, putting his hand on the cow's head and rubbing it. The cow let out a soft mooing noise, and Hermione couldn't help but smile. "My mother used to pack a picnic for my family vhen I vas a child."
"How come you kept your house even though you've been paid loads of galleons since you got on the Bulgarian Quidditch team?" Ron asked, pushing his anger and slight jealousy of Viktor to the side in curiosity. Krum looked surprised he would ask such a question, but pleased all the same.
"Vell, I suppose I am just vhat you vould call...vhat is the vord...sentimental. My home holds many memories for me. I vould not vant to leave it."
He motioned to Hermione and she followed him as he walked a part of the length of the fence. Ron stood and stared at them as they walked onward. He couldn't hear what they were saying, the slight breeze was taking their words away.
A wave of jealously washed over him. He clenched his fists, threw them into his pockets and followed the two slowly. It was impossible to deny it anymore. Ron was jealous. Jealous that they fancied each other, jealous that Hermione didn't fancy him, jealous...just jealous.
And jealous that Krum had wooed Hermione before he had even realized he liked her. Yep...that was it.
He was slightly shocked at himself lately. He didn't know what had gotten into him. Perhaps it was the Bulgarian air...He began to follow them slowly, almost trudging across the grass. Ron stared around at Viktor's grounds. The place was outstanding; he was unable to deny it. And he felt slightly ashamed that it had taken him so long to realize his feelings for Hermione. It was stupid to even consider taking any action...Look at where he was. He had a couple of sickles (if he was lucky) to his name, robes that used to be Bill's, Pig, and a chess set. Certainly anything he had was overshadowed by the famous Viktor Krum, Bulgarian seeker.
He looked at the two walking ahead of him scornfully. He was angry at his stupidity over the past year or two. How could he have made so many excuses at the Yule Ball? How could he have hidden his feelings from himself for so long?
Ron began to run to catch up with them. He was determined to not let them leave his sight; that mark on Hermione's neck had made him suspicious. Truth be told, he'd never even seen a love bite, but he was even more determined than before to make sure that nothing went on between them in front of him.
Hermione and Viktor turned to see Ron skidding across the grass towards them, panting slightly. They waited for him and opened the gate to walk in with the cows, after he had made his way to them.
"After you," Krum said politely, motioning to Hermione. Slightly flustered, she tiptoed into the corral. Ron held back the urge to open the gate wide and let all the cattle out to roam free.
"Is this where you feed them?" Hermione called from the other side of the corral; Ron was stunned as to how she had made her way over there so fast.
"Yes, that is vhere ve put the food, Herm-own-ninny."
"What do you normally feed them?"
Ron didn't wait to hear Krum's answer; shoving his fists in his pockets, he walked over to the nearest cow and watched it for a moment. He pulled a hand gingerly from his pocket and proceeding to pat it on the neck.
The cow, unfortunately, seemed to not want Ron's hand upon it, and it turned quickly and began walking towards him, almost face to face with him. Ron took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder. Viktor and Hermione were talking animatedly, and he wasn't about to ask for Vicky's help. He could deal with a silly cow, he had won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor last term. A cow was nothing.
It continued walking towards him, keeping its eyes on Ron's. Ron could almost see a mischievious glint in them, as if the cow knew that whatever was going to happen was going to be something it could laugh over later on in the day.
He took bigger steps backwards. The cow began to walk faster, until suddenly he was inches from it and it stepped faster and faster until suddenly, he felt himself trip over backwards. He was laying on his back in what felt like mud. He scrunched up and let the cow continue to walk past him, pulling all his limbs closer to him and hoping they wouldn't be stepped on and shattered.
Ron sat up. The cow had run past him, and he suddenly recognized what he had fallen in. The brown pile that had broken his fall was certainly not mud.
"Dammit," Ron said, following it with words his mother would have been ashamed to hear.
"Are you all right, Ron?" Hermione asked, turning around and suddenly noticing that he was on the floor. "What happened?"
She ran over to him and held out a hand to pull him up from the ground, but he didn't take it. He didn't need her noticing just what was on his hands.
"I fell," Ron said, letting her know that he found the answer to her question completely obvious. Viktor trotted over from the other side of the corral.
"Did you try to touch the cow over there?" He asked in an undertone, "The one with the darker brown spots?"
Ron nodded and pulled himself to a standing position. He wiped his hands quickly on his robes during the moment Hermione looked towards Viktor.
"That one is a bull," Viktor said, as if this was an obvious fact. "He is not as calm and collected as the others, which are female."
"What did you fall in?" Hermione asked. Ron turned scarlet.
"Nothing...Just some dirt," Ron said quickly, pulling away from Hermione's frantic hands and prying eyes.
"That isn't dirt, Ron," she pushed his lightly out of the way and began to smile. "You fell in..."
Hermione couldn't suppress her hysterical laughter. She joined Viktor, who had already been laughing for quite some time. Ron turned, if possible, redder.
"I haven't- I just- I-" He turned away from them angrily, which caused them to laugh harder when they laid eyes on his back. He stamped out of the gate, leaving it wide open in hope that half of Vicky's cows would escape and he would spend the whole day searching for them.
Ron stripped off his robes as he stamped away from them, knowing he'd have to change the pair of jeans he had underneath as well. He shook his head, trying to clear the thoughts of embarrassing himself in front of Hermione and her boyfriend, an international Quidditch player from his mind.
What a way to get your best friend to fancy you, Ron couldn't help but think as he trudged off across the grounds towards Viktor's home. Fall in a pile of cow dung.
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