Disclamier: I don't own Harry Potter, and I'm poor.

A/N: Sorry about the wait for the update, the holidays are killing me. I actually just finished my Christmas Shopping 3 hours ago. I don't suggest Wal-Mart for anyone that still needs to shop. And I don't want anyone to CRY! If you cry, I cry, and then I can't see to type and we all end up crying more.

I mentioned it in the A/N of the 3rd chapter, but I would like to reiterate: The title of this fic is NOT based off the song. I know the lyrics of the song are God and not Gun. This title is refering to the actions and reactions from people in the story. Reactions that are similar to someone with a loaded gun, itching to pull the trigger.

Harry plopped down at the kitchen table, the thought of breakfast making his stomach more irritable at being empty. He tried to put on a smile for Mrs. Weasley, but his mouth muscles just weren't cooperating. He managed a weak 'thank you' before digging into his eggs and sausage. He had a terrible headache forming behind his eyes, and he didn't know if it was because he was so hungry or because he had been up until 5:37 in the morning poking through the penseive.

"Slow down Harry or it'll come back up just as fast," Mr. Weasley said as he made his way over to the table to sit for his breakfast.

Harry managed a weak smile this time before turning to the glass of orange juice in front of him. He looked up briefly as Ron entered the room, grumbling under his breath about Ginny and scratching his stomach through his shirt.

"Morning mum," he said before sitting next to Harry.

"Honestly you two," Mrs. Weasley began. "One of these days you're going to have to get a good night's sleep."

"How late were you up?" Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry.

"5:30, you?"

"4:40."

They both looked down at their food and continued eating as Mrs. Weasley made her way back over to the table with her husband's tea. Ron had been staying up and researching in the books Hermione had been working on. They both knew they were wrong for what they said and how they acted, but neither had the guts to admit it...even to each other.

"Ah, here comes the morning paper," Mr. Weasley said as he set down his tea and grabbed the paper from the owl that swooped into the kitchen. After giving the creature the crust of his taost, it hooted and and flew out. "Ah, the International Relations Ball," he said to his wife. "I was invited to that you know? Had Order business to attend to though," he said with a sad smile. "Can't beleive they're still having these after all this."

"Now Arthur, it is international relations. We all know we need it now more than ever."

"But a ball?" he scoffed.

Mrs. Weasley gave her husband a smile as she looked down at the paper. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth to cover her surprise.

"Hm?" Arthur asked, but looked back down at the paper. "Oh," he said as he realized what had caught her attention.

"What!" shouted Harry and Ron at the same time.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Who died?" Ron asked right after.

"Nothing and no one," Molly said as she continued to scan the text in front of her. "Just startled at the picture."

As one, Harry and Ron made a grab for Mr. Weasley's paper. Harry ended up with it while Ron ended up with a giant tea stain on his shirt.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked as he saw the wide eyed look on his best friends face.

"Among the guests at last night's International Relations Ball were Viktor Krum," Harry read. "And his date, Hermione Granger. Mr. Krum being from Bulgaria and Ms. Granger from London, they showed everyone at the ball what international relations is all about." After Harry finished his face was red and if he was a tea kettle, steam would be pouring out of his ears.

"Hermione went to the ball? With KRUM!" Ron asked.

"That's what it says," Harry said quietly.

"That means she's staying with him!"

"Yeah, it does," Harry agreed, his eyes still never leaving the picture.

"What are you bloody staring at?" Ron walked over and took the paper from Harry. His face blanched as he saw a beautifully dressed Hermione wrapped in the arms of Viktor Krum, snogging away in the middle of a crowd. "I thought she said they were just friends!" he squeaked.

Hermione stretched her feet out on the couch, smiling as Viktor handed her a cup of coffee. He lifted her feet, sat down, and placed her feet on his lap.

"Thank you," she said with a smile before taking a sip of her coffee.

Viktor just smiled over at her. She was positively glowing this morning and no matter what she was doing, there was a smile on her face. He loved that he could make her so happy.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes before the tapping on the window caught their attention.

"That must be the paper," Viktor said as he made to get off the couch.

"No, I'll get it," Hermione said as she jumped up from the couch and made her way into the kitchen. She opened the door and let the owl fly in. She took the paper from it's leg and watched it fly back out before closing the door. She walked back into the living room, untying the paper on her way.

Viktor looked up as she stopped midway to the couch and the smile disappeared off her face. He got up and walked over to her. "Vhat is it?" He looked down at the paper and saw the cause of her distress. Even though she was embarassed, he couldn't help but feel a little pride in it. He had just let the world know she was his. He put his arms around her stomach from behind and kissed her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"Why would they put a picture like this on the front of the Daily Prophet?" she asked.

"Because it vas probably the most interesting thing that happened at the Ball" Viktor said with a laugh.

"Oh God!" she said, looking up. "What if Harry and Ron see this?"

"Vhar if? They are the ones that told you they didn't vant or need your help."

"Oh, but the thing is I know they do. And they know they do. I was just making them suffer until they realize it and apologize. Now they're gonna think I've just been...been..."

"Been vhat?" he said as he turned her around in his arms to face him. "Been doing something that makes you happy for once?"

Hermione gave Viktor a small smile. "They won't see it that way. They'll just think of it as me betraying them."

"How are you betraying them?"

She sighed. "By not being miserable like they are," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, the paper falling to the floor.

"Then they shouldn't have been so mean."

Hermione just smiled into his chest and closed her eyes.

"I can't BELEIVE YOU?"

Hermione and Viktor both looked over at the fireplace to see Ron standing there red faced, and Harry stepping out behind him.

"I never want to travel this far by Floo again," Harry mumbled to Ron, who wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention. That's when Harry put his glasses back on and saw Hermione and Viktor standing in the room, looking shocked beyond reason.

"What in the Bloody Hell are you doing here?" Hermione yelled at him.

"I could ask you the same question!" Ron exclaimed

"I don't have to explain myself to you Ronald. I didn't see you telling me to stay."

"Hermion," Harry said finally, catching everyone's attention. "I know I said some things that were ... a little ... uncalled for ... but we've had arguments like that before and you've never-never-"

"No Harry, we never had an argument where you so clearly said that I was useless. It was more than a little uncalled for and I feel like I had a damned good reason to go."

"But to him?" Ron asked.

Hermione placed her hand on Viktor's arm as she heard the low growl in his throat.

"I can go wherever I please Ronald, thank you."

"But you were bloody snogging him on the front page of the Daily Prophet!"

"What I do is none of your concern!"

"It sure as hell is!"

"Since when?"

"Since...since...well, since..."

"Since we're your best friends," Harry finished for him.

"The last I checked, best friends don't act like what you two did to me," she said, crossing her arms across her chest and her foot tapping on the carpet.

"Hermione you know we didn't mean it," Harry supplied.

"Yes you did. You said it and you meant it."

"If it makes you feel any better, Ron's been doing your research."

"I thought what I was doing was pointless."

"Well...maybe not so much pointless as...as...slow."

Hermione just stood there looking at the two boys in Viktor's living room, her foot still tapping and her arms still crossed.

"Hermione, we would like you to come back and help," Harry finally said.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly. "Is that an apology?"

She heard Ron mumble something behind Harry.

"What was that Ron?"

"I said I apologize."

"We're both sorry," Harry said. "We were just a little stressed out with everything."

"And I wasn't? You try pouring over old books all day, being told it was useless, and trying to keep you two alive. And by the looks of you both you haven't been sleeping or eating enough. I'm surprised Mrs. Weasley hasn't locked you in your rooms with a basket of food and a bed!"

Harry and Ron smiled.

Hermione sighed. "Fine, apology accepted."

"So you'll come back to help? I don't think I can take another sneezing fit from the dust those books bring in," Ron said.

"I will," she finally said. "But another night like that will land you two in more trouble than you can think of with me and I won't come back!"

"We won't, promise," Harry said quickly.

"Now could you leave please, let me have at least one more day of peace."

Ron looked like he was about to say something about her choice of company before he caught the death glare Viktor was giving him and scooted back over to the fireplace to head home.

Viktor reached down and moved a stray curl out of Hermione's face as she slept in his arms, her body leaning on his and her leg draped across his waist. He didn't want her to leave, but no matter what he said, she wouldn't listen. He knew she had to go, and he knew they need her, but that didn't make him feel any better. He had finally gotten her and now she was being taken away from him again.

He watched as the sunlight filtering in through the curtains played on her face. He knew it was time to wake her, but he didn't have the heart. She looked so peaceful and the thought of her leaving him was just too much to think about at the moment.

Hermione made a small noise as her eyes opened and she reached up to stretch. She looked straight up into Viktor's eyes. "Morning," she said before snuggling back into him.

"Morning," he said with a half smile before he kissed the top of her head.

"What time is it?" she asked softly.

"Around 9:30."

"Gah!" she exclaimed as she darted straight up. "I'm late!"

Viktor watched as she grabbed his shirt from the floor beside her and slipped it on before she got out of bed and began gathering her things. He slowly made his way out of bed, slipping shorts on as she continued to run around the room and pile stuff on the end of the bed. On one such trip he caught her arm and spun her around.

"Not that I don't like it, but if you keep vearing my shirt you're going to be a lot later than you already are."

Hermione slammed down the book, waving the dust away from her face before she got up. She had only been back 3 days, but it seemed like a lifetime already. She found herself thinking about Viktor while she was researching and it was taking her longer and longer to get through each book.

"Dammit, you never used to have this much trouble concentrating," she berated herself. She decided it was time to go down for some lunch and see how everyone else was doing.

She walked into the kitchen and sat at the table already occupied with Professor McGonagall, Moody, and Mrs. Weasley. Moody and the Professor were talking in hushed voices and didn't notice her appearance.

"Early lunch dear?" Mrs Weasley asked.

"Early? Ugh, it feels like it should be dinner by now," she sighed as she leaned her head down onto the table.

"How about a cup of tea?"

"Thank you, that should perk me back up."

"I'm just not sure if this will draw unwanted attention from You Know Who," Professor McGonagall said to Moody, in a louder voice.

"I think it's a fine choice."

"I don't know. I mean, it will mean less public displays of power, but it might put more people in danger if they find somewhere else to do it!"

"Do what?" Hermione interjected.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I didn't even see you come in." She slid the newest edition of the Daily Prophet over to Hermione.

Hermione looked down at it and saw the Minister of Magic shaking hands with Viktor. She quickly scanned the headline, "Disbanding Quidditch to Help in the War," she read aloud.

"Yes, the Minister got the support of some of the biggest names in Quidditch to shut down the league until after the war is over. That way they can have more people join in the fight and less places where there will be hundreds of wizards packed together. He's trying to avoid what happened at the Quidditch World cup 3 years ago," the older witch said with a small smile. "I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but it could cause You Know Who's forces to find somewhere else to attack groups of wizards."

"Except he hasn't attacked anything in a year," Hermione said. "And it looks like this was actually a good attempt at bringing people together to realize they need to do something."

"I agree, I just hope it doesn't backfire."

Moody grunted. "It won't if we got a little more security everywhere."

Hermione took a sip of her tea as Mrs. Weasley set it down in front of her.

"What do you suggest Moody? An Auror on every doorstep?"

The old wizard grunted again. "Wouldn't hurt," he mumbled.

Hermione sat back and watched the two bicker for a few more minutes before she got up and made her way back.

She did the best she could to think of nothing but the words in front of her. But that didn't stop the images of Viktor from racing through her head. After lunch and a few more tea breaks, Hermione was thankful when she heard the clock chime 10. She marked her page and closed the book. When she got to the Burrow, she walked straight upstairs into her room and laid down on her bed, not caring about dinner.

Hermione tossed and turned in her sleep. Dreams of a masked evil slowly inching its way around her, taking away everything she loved. After a flash of Harry in a pool of blood, she sat straight up in bed, her body still slightly shaking. She took a few deep breaths before laying back down. Just as she was about to doze off she heard a small thud downstairs. She sat back up and after a few seconds of hearing nothing, she laid down again. As she closed her eyes she heard a loud crash. She bolted out of bed, grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs. She knew the others were hot on her heels but that just made her run faster. There was something in the house.

Hermione ran into the room and looked around, not seeing anything.

"Lumos," she heard behind her.

She looked around the room once more and her eyes fell on a crumpled heap by the fireplace. She ran over to it, her wand pointed straight at the back of its head. She slowly reached down and touched its arm, rolling the person onto their back.

Hermioned gasped, her heart almost stopping as she stared down at Viktor's body covered in blood and his eyes closed. She reached down and touched his neck, barely feeling a pulse.

"Someone! Anyone! Help me!" she called as the rest of the people in the house gathered behind her and began talking in hushed voices all around.

"We have to get him to St. Mungo's," she heard Mrs. Weasley say.

Aww, poor Viktor! And I do apologize if my writing seems different, but I feel like I'm about to fall asleep. Please don't hate me for it. I promise the next chapter will be loads better.