Chapter 24

Viktor Apparated in London several blocks from Weasley's apartment. He needed to walk, to cool down some. He didn't want to wind up in jail tonight, and if he saw Weasley in the temper he had on now, he'd probably wind up with a life sentence. He tried to force his thoughts away from him, and as usual, they wound up on Hermione.

Damned woman. What was he doing wrong? She was hurting him one moment and pulling him close the next. Surely she wouldn't play with him; maybe she was just that confused. He felt like Icarus; when he got too close to Hermione, she began to melt his heart, but soon she was burning him, and he was falling into darkness. But just when he was about to hit the ocean abyss, she pulled him close again for a few warm wonderful moments, before he was falling again. He was waiting to hit the water, when she told him she wouldn't be back. And it was all because of Weasley.

Breathe slowly, Viktor. You know what your temper is like when it gets out of hand. He was at the door, reaching for the bell.

The woman from the party answered the door, wearing nothing but a bra and a short skirt. On second thought, maybe it wasn't a skirt. Viktor really couldn't tell. Her eyes got wide and she smiled broadly at him.

"A Quidditch player, come to join the party!" she slurred, moving against him. She rubbed against him like a greasy cat and he took a step back, disgusted. "I like two men at once."

Viktor couldn't remember ever being afraid of any man, but this woman was scaring him.

She was reaching for something he really didn't want her to touch when Weasley yelled from inside, slurring as well, "Babe, who is it?"

She giggled, "It's a man, a Quidditch man." Viktor took the opportunity to move away from her again, hoping she wouldn't follow this time.

"Bring 'em in then."

She toddled off on shoes that he wasn't sure were actually made to be walked in, especially by very drunk women. She kept bumping into walls. He followed her to the living room, where she announced, "I'm going to the bathroom," rather gleefully, he thought.

Weasley stood up, eyes cold, walking over to Viktor. He glanced toward the bathroom at the sound of retching, then back to Viktor. "What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"I am finishing our last conversation."

"What, the bitch ran to you again? At least someone's getting a fuck out of her."

"Do not talk about your vife like that. Show her some respect." Viktor crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep his hands to himself for as long as possible.

Weasley laughed, a bitter, cold laugh. "She's not my damned wife. She hasn't been my wife for a long time. She's not doing what I want her to. I've never been good enough."

"That is no excuse to hurt her."

"She fucking belongs to me! I can do whatever I want to her!" Ron threw the bottle in his hand, and it shattered on the wall beside Viktor.

"She is a person, a vonderful person! You do not own her, and you can not do vhatever you like to her!"

"Why the hell not? You're doing 'vhatever' you like to her, aren't you?"

Viktor took a deep breath. "I am doing nothing to her, except being a friend."

Ron snorted. "If that's what you call friendship, whatever. The whore is fucking everyone in sight." He swiped another bottle from the abundant pile on the table, and threw this one directly at Viktor, who easily caught it and sat it on an end table.

"Just because you are does not mean she is." Ron dove for Viktor, flailing, and Viktor let loose, glad Ron had finally made a move. In no time he had Ron pinned to the floor, holding him with one arm. Silly drunk little boy.

"Let me up!" he squeaked, and Viktor resisted the urge to laugh.

"No. This is for the bruises on Hermione's back, and the vone on her wrist from last night." Viktor delivered a firm punch to Weasley's jaw. "This vone is for cheating on her," he added, with another punch. Weasley looked rather dazed now. "This vone is for anything else you ever did to hurt her." Another solid hit. "Oh, yes, and vone for…propositioning her this afternoon." Boom. Viktor stood up, walking toward the doorway. He hoped Weasley remembered this in the morning; he might not, judging by the number of bottles scattered around the room. Right when Viktor reached the doorway, he felt movement behind him. He spun, grabbing Weasley around the throat, pinning him to the wall.

"This vone is simply because you are a stupid little asshole." With that, Viktor delivered a hit squarely in his long nose, leaving him cursing with blood running down his face.

As he unlocked the door to his house in Izbor with a bag of groceries, all he could think was Damn, that felt good.