The next day Viktor was waiting in the Hogwarts' Library just as he had promised. He bounced his leg up and down rapidly and his palms were sweating. He was terrified that Hermione wouldn't show. The door to the library creaked open and Viktor's head snapped up. Hermione entered the library and hurried over to Viktor. Her cheeks were flushed and she wore a large smile. "Hi," she was still smiling and took a seat next to him.
"Hello," Viktor grunted, lost for any other words. They sat in silence, Hermione was studying and Viktor was pretending to read, but was actually watching Hermione study. He noticed that she furrowed her brow and was mouthing the words as she read them. Her eyes zoomed across the page and Viktor was amazed at how fast she could read. She picked up her quill and wrote something down on the piece of parchment and then stuck the quill between her teeth as she looked up a fact in her book.
It wasn't long before the door creaked open again and Viktor heard giggling. Viktor's fangirls had arrived. Viktor turned to Hermione, "Ve should go."
"Yeah," Hermione nodded. They both gathered their books and crept around the book shelves avoiding the flock of girls that had just entered and snuck out the door without being seen.
Once they had exited the room Hermione burst into giggles and Viktor followed soon after. "Vhy are ve laffing?" Viktor asked breathlessly. Hermione shook her head and snorted causing Viktor to start laughing again. They continued to laugh for was seemed like forever, but eventually they decided to go outside and talk.
They found a spot by the forbidden forest and Viktor conjured a blanket for them to sit on. They sat down but did not read as they had done in the library. "Do you like it here?" Hermione questioned nervously.
"Yes this place is…great," Viktor had no other words to describe properly how he felt about Hogwarts.
They lapsed into silence and they both began to clear their throats. "Do you like being a professional Quidditch Player?" Hermione attempted to start conversation again.
"Ffery much. I haff been playing Quidditch since I vas a child. It is so freeing," Viktor's eyes lit up, he could talk about Quidditch for hours. "Vhat about you? Do you play Quidditch?"
"No," she said blushing, "I don't really like to fly."
"Really? Vhy?" Viktor was extremely curious.
"I'm…I'm…I'm scared of heights," Hermione was embarrassed to admit it; no one else she had met at school seemed to be afraid of heights.
"Oh, my mother was afraid of heights too," Viktor stated and then moved a bit closer to Hermione.
"Really, is she over her fear now?" Hermione questioned moving a bit closer to Viktor. Their shoulders bumped together and they both blushed.
"Er…I guess you could say that," Viktor said, Hermione was touching on a very sensitive subject.
"What do you mean?" Hermione looked at him with concern.
"She died, about seffen years ago," Viktor stared at the ground.
"What was she like?"
"She vas amazing. She loved muggle plays and moffies, she vanted to be an actress for a long time," Viktor drifted off into silence thinking about all the muggle movies his mother and he would watch.
"How did she die?" Hermione reached her arm around Viktor's shoulder.
"Death Eater, one of the few that escaped Azkaban. She found out that he was in line with You-Know-Who and was going to turn him over to the Ministry, but he knew and he killed her. I saw the whole thing and told the Ministry," Viktor wiped away a tiny tear that had escaped his eye.
"Oh," was all Hermione could say. She knew that Harry had lost his parents but he had never really shared anything with her, and he really couldn't remember that night anyways.
"Vell, ve should go," Viktor said standing up quickly, "I vill see you the night of the Yule Ball." He left without another word and Hermione felt as if she had done something wrong. After a few steps Viktor stopped in his tracks and ran back to Hermione. "I am sorry if I vas rude, I really did like being vith you," he reached down his hand and helped Hermione off the ground.
"I really must be going," Hermione said when she got to her feet. "I will see you on Christmas Eve." She planted a gentle kiss on his cheek and headed back to the castle.
A/N: Well, I've been trying to update, but I've been so friggin' busy. What with classes and work and my Original Fiction that I'm working on, I'm surprised I had time to do this. Hopefully this will appease some of your urges and I shall be back. T.T.F.N. ta-ta-for-now.
