002 Middles

The long table was set up on the lawn of the Weasley's house. It was an odd little house, and Viktor had never seen the like before; tall and sprawling and tilted. The buildings he was used to, at home and at Durmstrang, were all low and flat and sensible. The Burrow is far from it. Viktor has seen snatches of the inside; the overflowing little kitchen, the twin's room, Ronald's room- yes, the younger boy was very eager to show famous Quidditch star Viktor Krum his room, and only regretted that he couldn't do it personally instead of just using a long-distance speaking charm from Hogwarts. Viktor was rather overwhelmed at the orange-ness of the room, but at least it was not Bulgaria's team- that would be more painful, and more embarrassing.

But Krum did not spend much time inside the house before he was ushered outside for the meal. He had been separated from Tonks, who had come here by Molly's invitation and Remus' approval, who right now seemed his only ally. But he was shown a seat near the middle of one of the long sides of the bench, and Tonks was soon placed beside him, either by her own will or the Weasleys' direction.

A familiar figure- though one he hadn't seen in some time- took her place opposite him. Fleur smiled at him, her face glowing amongst her silvery hair, and he remembered the few conversations they had given each other, the feeling of her and him and Cedric Diggory together but against each other, compounded by Harry Potter's presence… but Cedric and Fleur had been closer than she and himself, and Fleur seemed even more at home now, with the eldest Weasley child sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh.

Viktor felt distinctly uncomfortable. He was not particularly good at adjusting to strange situations, and, while by now he was relatively familiar with the inhabitants of Grimmauld Place, and that grimy kitchen was beginning to fit more evenly, this whole ordeal made him feel rather as if he was back at square one, starting all the introductions over again. And the feeling was compounded when the table suddenly fell into a hush, and Viktor realized that everyone was finally seated, and Bill and Fleur were rising to their feet, both looking rather pleased with themselves to Viktor's eyes. But not the pleasure from knowing they were safe or untouchable in whatever they succeeded in doing, not that self satisfaction that Viktor had so often seen on the faces of his classmates; it was one reason he had been drawn to the students from Hogwarts, the lack of that body language.

Beside him, Tonks grew tense with excitement and interest; Tonks, in fact, was rather gleeful, having a rather shrewd idea- okay, maybe not so much shrewd as overheard- about what was coming. She instinctively looked beside her, grinning and ready to share the moment, at Viktor, his sharp profile featuring a slight frown; and when he felt her gaze and turned to look at her, she grabbed his arm and cocked her head.

"Ah, umh," Bill said, and broke off; Tonks wondered how he was even able to speak that much with such a wide grin, and took a breath to begin to whisper something along those lines to Fleur, but let it out in a puff instead. "Um, everyone," the Weasley continued, "We kinda want to announce that, well… Fleur is… we're…" and his cheeks were turning pink, but with pleasure, not embarrassment.

Fleur stepped into save her floundering husband. "I am pregnant."

Molly Weasley let out a muffled squeak; the twins, Fred and George, gaped for a moment; and Charlie, the eldest after Bill, burst out laughing at the look on his brother's face, and Tonks highly suspected that he, too, had somehow found out ahead of time. Then the guests began to move as a unit, offering their congratulations, and Viktor and Tonks found themselves hastily blurting out their own in the same brief moment when the flow of noise stopped and the couple was able to see directly across the table.

And later that evening, after many hours of food and talk and spontaneous rebirths of excitement, after Viktor had said farewell to the Weasleys and was waiting for the others to finish their goodbyes, he saw Tonks waiting on the outskirts of the group, seated upon one of the wooden tables. He walked over to sit on the bench by her feet; she gazed into the distance, though it was much too dark for any scenery to be visible, for a moment, then turned to him. She grinned wickedly. "Much as I'm glad for them," she said in a slightly secretive voice, "I don't know how we shall survive nine months of a pregnant Veela!"

Viktor thought that this ordeal would be a rather… interesting way to prove that he was truly a part of this community, now, but he couldn't bring himself to be put out by it, especially not when the girl beside him spoke of we.

Author's note: Thank you, reviewers! (and those who put this on their alert list.) I'll make an attempt to update more regularly than I have my other stories. Oh, and there'll be action soon, and actual conflict in a while, promise.