Chapter 33

Hermione was beautiful with her hair tangling uncombed and damp around her cheeks, curled up in his plushy bathrobe. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She was here, and she was his, and she was staying. She was with him, in every sense of the word. After so many years of waiting for this woman, Viktor felt as though something was going to happen to wake him up, and it wouldn't be real.

Her eyes clung to his like melted caramel as she sipped her coffee. Her cheeks were pink, still flushed from the most memorable shower of his life. She was real. It was so difficult for him to believe it, but here she was. Those eyes shining at him were so much more vivid than in his fantasies; she had to be real.

"What do you have planned for today, Vitya?" Her voice cut through his awe, and he realized he should answer her.

"I am supposed to go to the bookstore and help Mayka. Vhat are you doing?"

"I should probably go to the office for an hour or two. If I don't show up after last night, I'm afraid everyone would worry about me."

"Your in-laws? And the Potters?"

She nodded. "My in-laws are my family, Viktor. They've been part of my life for years, especially since I lost my parents. They understand my choice to leave Ron, and they're happy for me. My relationship with them is completely separate from the one I had with Ron. Is that alright with you? I really care about them, and they love me."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I am sure they cannot help loving you. I cannot."

She uncurled herself from the chair and moved over to snuggle in his lap, cradling her head against his shoulder. "I wish we could spend the day here together, being lazy. It's like…it's like we've found this whole new world in each other, and I don't want to do anything but explore it."

"It has been here, vaiting for us, for a long time, I suspect. Ve almost reached it vhen ve vere kids at Hogvarts. I am so glad ve are finally in it. I vill be as quick as I can at Mayka's store, then I vill come home and vait for you."

She kissed him. "I won't stay long. I just need to pop in so they know I'm ok. I might bring some work home with me, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. I haff practice tomorrow; vill you go to vork then?"

"I might stay here and work, and be waiting when you get home. Is that ok with you?"

"Svetlina, you are velcome to pack all your things and come here the moment you vant to. You can do anything you vant. This house is just a house vithout you in it. Do vhat you vish; you are vhat makes it feel like home."

She kissed him again, enjoying the roughness of his jaw line. He hadn't shaved yet, and it made him even sexier. "In that case, while you're at practice, I may go to the old apartment in London and gather up what's left of my stuff. Most of it, I suspect, has been ruined by now. I should probably let Ron know I'm divorcing him, too."

"Vould you like me to go vith you?"

For a few moments, she didn't say anything. When she answered, she said, "No, I think this is something I have to do on my own. I'll be fine, Vitya."

"I know."

The conversation faded to trivial things, interjected with soft kisses, until it was time for both of them to dress and be on their way. Even with life interrupting their newfound world, love and hope for the future kept them close, despite the miles, for the rest of the day.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Viktor Krum, would you like to tell me why you are grinning like a baboon and smell like flowers?" His mother's question assaulted him from behind as he shelved books. She could make Bulgarian words sound like daggers better than anyone he'd ever heard. He had no idea how she knew he smelled like Hermione; she'd been at the counter checking out a customer. He slid his last book into place and turned to face her, leaning against the shelf.

"That depends," he answered, eyes shining. "Are you going to scold me?"

"You keep telling me you're a big boy and to stay out of your business."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you won't scold me, you sly woman."

"That's true. I suppose she's still at your house?"

His face split into a grin that nearly made his cheeks ache. "She's divorcing him, Mama."

Looking grim, she asked, "Because of you? It's bad, Vitya, to come between a woman and her husband."

He pulled his mother into a hug, hating the look on her face. "No, not because of me. She's divorcing him because of him. It's not my story to tell, but I'll just say he hasn't treated her very well. We've just…well, we've found each other again. She would have left him anyway, but loving me is an added bonus."

Now sadness filled her dark eyes, so much like his, as she said, "I hope you don't forget about your poor old mama. I suppose you won't be around so much anymore. You'll probably move off to England."

He smiled at her. "Don't be silly. I couldn't forget you, and I'll be around as much as I ever am. Hermione loves Izbor, and so do I."

She answered him in a low, hot voice, "If she hurts you again, I will pull out each one of her fingernails with red-hot tongs and shove them—"

"Mama, stop, please. Hurt is a part of life, and if it happens, it happens. The happiness I've had just since last night is enough to make up for it. I love her."

She watched his face, glowing with joy and excitement. This was the chubby little baby who'd tugged her heartstrings with his toothless smile. This was the loving little boy who had brought her flowers and seashells, the scowling teenager with a heart of gold. This was the young man who had held her when his father died, wiping her tears while his own heart was breaking. In this moment, with love shining on his face, he looked exactly like her husband had on their wedding day, and she knew he was a good man, a strong man, and he could handle anything the world tossed his way. They had raised him well, and she was proud of him. From heaven, she knew his father was too. She felt her husband whisper in her heart, We've done well, sweetheart. We can let him go now; we can let him love this girl. He's a good man.

And he was right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A knock sounded on her office door, and Harry popped his head in. He had a dark ring around one eye. Hermione looked up from the papers she was stacking in her briefcase and grinned at him. "I didn't know you'd be here today! I thought the Auror testing would be over by now."

He grimaced. "We still have to grade them and choose who'll work best with the team. I took a break to come over and see if you were in today. I didn't really expect you to be, not after last night."

Last night had been the most amazing night of her life. A vision of Viktor's rough hands running over her skin flashed through her mind. Oh, wait, Harry was talking about Ron and his show at the Weasleys'. Last night had certainly been eventful. "I'm fine, Harry," she said. "In fact, I'm better than fine."

"Where did you go? You don't have to tell me, but I think I already know."

"Bulgaria."

"To Krum?" She nodded. "Ginny and I thought that's probably where you'd gone. That night at the club after their game, we both knew Krum was gone on you. He looked at you like you had polished every star until it shone and hung them in the sky."

"Poetic, aren't you?" she laughed.

"Well," he stammered, "That's how I feel about Gin, and he looks at you like I look at her."

She moved around the desk and hugged Harry. "It's alright with you, then? You're the person I was most worried about accepting this decision."

"I'll miss you if you move to Bulgaria, but if he makes you happy, I'm glad. After these past few years with Ron, you deserve someone who makes you happy."

"He does, Harry," she answered, eyes shining, "very, very happy."